Ok so these are probally gonna seem really dumb questions but last friday was my first full day in a lorry, all be it with another driver. Just a few things i wanted to query regarding tacho’s. We started 7am in the morning and the plan was for the driver who was babysitting me to drive the morning and for me to take over once he had run out of hours. Whilst we were in the yard i said to him shall i put a tacho in slot 2 but he just said to do it when we switched. He did several loads from the quarry in the morning and i took over at 12.30 and was in the driving seat until 17.22 (4.52hrs) again doing quarry work. During this time i did not take a break after 4.5hrs as the guy i was with said i would have a bit of extra time from when we were loading and unloading, is this correct or should i still have taken a break after 4.5hrs even though it was not continuous driving? Also because we were double manning should i have infact put my tacho in when we were in the yard and had it on break until it was my time to drive? Also when we came to switch i put my tacho straight in and drove off so obv the 10min vehicle check would have not shown on my tacho. Just worried if i get pulled may have made a few mistakes 
firstly, you should have put your tacho in slot 2 at the start of the day
he is correct though, if you had worked 4 hours 52 minutes, but included a few deliveries, then you will not have broken the 4:30 rule
that is driving time, NOT working time
Your card (or chart, on an analogue tacho) should really have been put in at the start of your shift. Then set the mode switch to record what you are actually doing - if you are navigating, assisting with unloading, or doing paperwork, vehicle checks etc then it should be set to Other Work. If you are not actually doing any work of any sort, it can be set to Break or POA (although digi tachos will not allow Break to be recorded while the vehicle is moving). The requirement is for all work and breaks to be recorded, not just the times when you are in the driving seat.
Not 100% sure about double manning (so I’m gonna get slagged off) but I would have put my card in slot 2 which I think will show crossed hammers/other work whilst Mr Babysitter was driving.Then when I get to play I would have put my card in slot 1 then done my checks 10-15minutes, make a note exactly what time you put it in, because your 6 hours starts NOW. You can do 4.5 hours driving in the 6 hours anyway you like-stop start, all in one go or 1 hour stints, but you must take 45 minutes break before the end of the 6 hours, which means you need to be parked up & set the tacho to break on 5 hours 59 minutes. Or you can split the break in two the first one being no less than 15 minutes, the second break must be at least 30 minutes. (I always take at least 16 minutes & 31 minutes or minimum 46 minutes, or 2 hours if I can get away with it 
)
You would also have to show break within the 6 hours that Mr Babysitter drove.
Thanks guys i thought that was the case but me being the newbie did as the more experienced driver said. If i double man again will defo put my tacho in first thing then im covered! Thats a releif with the driver’s hours i just hope i had 22mins spare (bought a tacho checker but because there was alot of stop starting is quite hard to work out) fingers crossed! Worst case senario if i get pulled in next 28 days will just have to hold my hands up and hope they take my inexperience into accout.
martinviking:
Not 100% sure about double manning (so I’m gonna get slagged off) but I would have put my card in slot 2 which I think will show crossed hammers/other work whilst Mr Babysitter was driving.Then when I get to play I would have put my card in slot 1 then done my checks 10-15minutes, make a note exactly what time you put it in, because your 6 hours starts NOW. You can do 4.5 hours driving in the 6 hours anyway you like-stop start, all in one go or 1 hour stints, but you must take 45 minutes break before the end of the 6 hours, which means you need to be parked up & set the tacho to break on 5 hours 59 minutes. Or you can split the break in two the first one being no less than 15 minutes, the second break must be at least 30 minutes. (I always take at least 16 minutes & 31 minutes or minimum 46 minutes, or 2 hours if I can get away with it
You would also have to show break within the 6 hours that Mr Babysitter drove.
nope
you are getting the driving time breaks and the working time breaks mixed up
6 hours working time, 15 minute break
yes you should have had your card in for the whole day slot 2 whilst other was driving then switching to slot 1 when your shift started ,
if you want to keep an eye on your driving time , on the tacho to the right is the button for up ad down menu just tap the down arrow once and will show your accumulative driving mins ,
As long as you mean your tacho was in for 4hrs 52 for the whole shift and you do not mean that the driving time was 4hrs 52 then with your other work taken into account you should not have exceeded driving time
hope that makes sense
just an after thought digi tacho will flash up a warning 15 mins before brk due as well so if you didnt see that your fine 
You can only check the accumulative driving time on digi tachos.
Jennie:
yes you should have had your card in for the whole day slot 2 whilst other was driving then switching to slot 1 when your shift started ,if you want to keep an eye on your driving time , on the tacho to the right is the button for up ad down menu just tap the down arrow once and will show your accumulative driving mins ,
As long as you mean your tacho was in for 4hrs 52 for the whole shift and you do not mean that the driving time was 4hrs 52 then with your other work taken into account you should not have exceeded driving timehope that makes sense
just an after thought digi tacho will flash up a warning 15 mins before brk due as well so if you didnt see that your fine
Yes 4.52 was the entire time tacho was in (driving and other work)
Card should have been in from the start but there’s no way VOSA would ever give more than an informal advisory if you were to get a check.
dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/S … Driver.pdf
when I first started printed this from the vosa website , staying legal leaflet , and carried it round to refer to if not sure
shuttlespanker:
martinviking:
Not 100% sure about double manning (so I’m gonna get slagged off) but I would have put my card in slot 2 which I think will show crossed hammers/other work whilst Mr Babysitter was driving.Then when I get to play I would have put my card in slot 1 then done my checks 10-15minutes, make a note exactly what time you put it in, because your 6 hours starts NOW. You can do 4.5 hours driving in the 6 hours anyway you like-stop start, all in one go or 1 hour stints, but you must take 45 minutes break before the end of the 6 hours, which means you need to be parked up & set the tacho to break on 5 hours 59 minutes. Or you can split the break in two the first one being no less than 15 minutes, the second break must be at least 30 minutes. (I always take at least 16 minutes & 31 minutes or minimum 46 minutes, or 2 hours if I can get away with it
You would also have to show break within the 6 hours that Mr Babysitter drove.nope
you are getting the driving time breaks and the working time breaks mixed up
6 hours working time, 15 minute break
Yea you are right, but I’ve always took at least a 45min break within the 6 hours, I used to work for Biffa & we would always take a break on about 5 hours (analogue tacho) to make sure that we did’nt exceed our driving time.
dukeofdirt:
You can only check the accumulative driving time on digi tachos.
Not so, our Kienzle equipped Actros’s can do it via the menu on the onboard computer.
(The crossover tacho, uses a chart but digital display)
Personally, knowing she is good looking if I was the VOSA man I’d take her in the back of my van and insert it into slot number 2 until she learns.
Sorry, I just had to. 
Dav1d:
dukeofdirt:
You can only check the accumulative driving time on digi tachos.Not so, our Kienzle equipped Actros’s can do it via the menu on the onboard computer.
(The crossover tacho, uses a chart but digital display)
Sorry. I can also check it on the dash board of my premium but not on the actual tacho head.
For the future remember that all the time you are on duty must be officially recorded
Can you program what slot 2 records as when driving?
as ours record POA and if you are learning routes, navigating etc then you should not put the card in but do a manual entry.
kevin0410:
Can you program what slot 2 records as when driving?
as ours record POA and if you are learning routes, navigating etc then you should not put the card in but do a manual entry.
I am fairly sure it can record POA and other work but not certain
If the MM rules are being complied with then the first 45 mins of any poa will be regarded as break but if not under MM rules then the only way to record break is to do a manual entry
shuttlespanker:
martinviking:
Not 100% sure about double manning (so I’m gonna get slagged off) but I would have put my card in slot 2 which I think will show crossed hammers/other work whilst Mr Babysitter was driving.Then when I get to play I would have put my card in slot 1 then done my checks 10-15minutes, make a note exactly what time you put it in, because your 6 hours starts NOW. You can do 4.5 hours driving in the 6 hours anyway you like-stop start, all in one go or 1 hour stints, but you must take 45 minutes break before the end of the 6 hours, which means you need to be parked up & set the tacho to break on 5 hours 59 minutes. Or you can split the break in two the first one being no less than 15 minutes, the second break must be at least 30 minutes. (I always take at least 16 minutes & 31 minutes or minimum 46 minutes, or 2 hours if I can get away with it
You would also have to show break within the 6 hours that Mr Babysitter drove.nope
you are getting the driving time breaks and the working time breaks mixed up
6 hours working time, 15 minute break
is it? i thought it was a 30 minute break after 6 hours working time
chilistrucker:
is it? i thought it was a 30 minute break after 6 hours working time
CPC for you!