Hello all, im looking for some advice regarding tachograph rules.
I’ve been driving for 26 years and this issue hasn’t come up very often.
I believe tachograph regulations were revised a few years back and i’m not sure if this rule was dropped or not as all online info doesn’t mention it.
It used to be that if you started at say 3am on your first shift then this was taken as the reference point for the start of every 24 hr day there after.
So if i started at 3am on Monday then by 3am on Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and (Sunday if you worked a sixth shift) you must have had a daily rest period.
It basically stopped you from getting 7 or 8hr differences in your start times through the week.
Your daily rest period must be completed by your start time from the previous day. There is nothing to say you can’t continue to rest past 0300 in your example but you must have had at least 9 hours (11 if you have no reduceds left) by 0300. Your weekly rest period must be completed within 7 days of your first shift since your last weekly rest period. There is no legal way that you can start at 0300 on a Monday and drive every day of the week except:
Monday - Saturday 0300 starts. Finish 1700 on Saturday. 24hr reduced weekly rest. Start between 1700 and 2359 on Sunday and work nights.
There is no reason why your boss couldn’t start you at 0300 on Monday for a short run. Park you up or send you home at say 0900 on the same day and ask for you to start again at 2200 that night. I personally would refuse as I wouldn’t get sufficient good rest, I’d say no on the grounds of Health and Safety. There is no reason however why he couldn’t ask.
I dont know if its relevant to the question asked but your weekly rest will have to start on/before 03hr00 on the Sunday. (6x 24hrs from end of previous break, i.e. the start of current week).
Are you looking at gov.uk/drivers-hours/eu-rules ?
That`s the Gov site.
Assuming that you’re on EU regulations you can restart work when you’ve completed a daily rest period.
A daily rest period of 11 hours must be completed within 24 hours from the start of the shift (restricts the shift to 13 hours).
The daily rest period may be reduced to no less than 9 hours 3 times between weekly rest periods (restricts the shift to 15 hours).
If you started work at 03:00 Monday and worked until 15:00 you could have a regular 11 hour daily rest period and restart work at 02:00 Tuesday, alternatively you could have a reduced daily rest period of 9 hours and restart work at midnight Monday.
In other words if you start at 03:00 you must have a daily rest period after the shift ends, you can then restart work after the daily rest period has been completed regardless of what time it is.
There’s no rule that states you cannot start work until 24 hours after the previous shift start time.
However if you’re on domestic regulations the daily driving limit and the daily duty limit is restricted to the period of 24 hours, so if you start work at 03:00 Monday you would be restricted to 10 hours driving and 11 hours duty before 03:00 Tuesday, but this only applies to domestic regulations.
Most people are on EU regulations but there are a few exemptions, so to be more specific we would need to know which regulations you’re on or what sort of work you do.
I only ever work 5 shifts, Mon to Fri (day shift) so weekly rest is not an issue.
Here is the scenario.
I start at 00.30 on the Monday morning and do a 15 hour shift. I start at 05.30 on Tuesday, my second shift, so I have had a 14 hour daily rest period, however only 9 hrs of it was within the 24 hour period so that’s my first reduced.
Because the 24 hr reference period was set by me starting at 00.30 on my first shift then if i take a second reduced i can work no later than 15.30 on tuesday which is only a 10 hour shift.
This finish time will be 13.30 later in the week when i’ve used up my reduced daily rests.
That was how it used to be and I was on many training courses which taught me such, however unlike the old government rule book there is no reference to it in the new book so was it dropped?
Im sure Tachograph will correct me if Im mistaken, but, in your example, since your Tuesday shift starts at 05hr30 that is your start time. No need to refer back to the previous day. So you could work to 18hr30 and have a full 11hr break after, so starting at 05hr30 Weds if you wish.
Franglais:
Im sure Tachograph will correct me if Im mistaken, but, in your example, since your Tuesday shift starts at 05hr30 that is your start time. No need to refer back to the previous day. So you could work to 18hr30 and have a full 11hr break after, so starting at 05hr30 Weds if you wish.
That appears to be how it works now so the old rule must have been dropped. Thank you.
I start at 00.30 on the Monday morning and do a 15 hour shift. I start at 05.30 on Tuesday, my second shift, so I have had a 14 hour daily rest period, however only 9 hrs of it was within the 24 hour period so that’s my first reduced.
Because the 24 hr reference period was set by me starting at 00.30 on my first shift then if i take a second reduced i can work no later than 15.30 on tuesday which is only a 10 hour shift.
This finish time will be 13.30 later in the week when i’ve used up my reduced daily rests.
That was how it used to be and I was on many training courses which taught me such, however unlike the old government rule book there is no reference to it in the new book so was it dropped?
On EU regulations a new period of 24 hours starts when you’ve completed the daily rest period.
In your example you start work on Tuesday at 05:30 so if you’re going to have another reduced daily rest period you could work until 20:30 or without a reduced daily rest period you could work until 18:30, this is regardless of what time you started on Monday.
The thing to remember is that a new period of 24 hours begins when you’ve completed the daily rest period.
The current regulations came into force in 2006, to be honest I can’t remember what the regulations said before that
The Doonhamer:
It says “consecutive” on the current rule book.
Im confused as ever lol
What you have highlighted refers to the weekly rest. So as said weekly rest must start from 03hr00 Sunday or before. As you say this isn`t an issue for you.
The Doonhamer:
It says “consecutive” on the current rule book.
Im confused as ever lol
You posted as I was typing
The thing to remember is that a new 24 period begins when you’ve completed the daily rest period, it’s not bound to the start time of the previous 24 hour period.
As far as daily rest periods are concerned it may help to think of it as a maximum period of 24 hours rather than an actual period of 24 hours duration.
"A new 24 period begins when you’ve completed the daily rest period " clearly defines it for me.
The old rule must have been dropped. Its a shame though because in reality there is nothing now to stop an employer giving you start times varying massively which knocks my body clock for six .
"A new 24 period begins when you’ve completed the daily rest period " clearly defines it for me.
The old rule must have been dropped. Its a shame though because in reality there is nothing now to stop an employer giving you start times varying massively which knocks my body clock for six .
Quite so. “Legal” it may be, but “Safe” “Sensible” are not involved. As another example I know of a company expect their drivers to start at 02hr00 on a Monday, after a weekend off, do a 4hr drive, trailer swop, and then do 9hr break, before starting a full shift driving, tipping, loading etc. Can`t be safe in my book, but legal.
"A new 24 period begins when you’ve completed the daily rest period " clearly defines it for me.
The old rule must have been dropped. Its a shame though because in reality there is nothing now to stop an employer giving you start times varying massively which knocks my body clock for six .
In reality safety comes first so if a driver states that they will not be rested enough then that takes preference over what is legally allowed
