Yesterday I got told a tip which does sound
good to me and just wondered if anyone else
does this. The person I was with set is timer for
16 minutes in the morning as he said that the other
drivers in is company got tachograph infringements
by setting there timers for 15 minutes then driving again
and the tacho had not completed its cycle so It recorded a
14 minutes break. After all this happened the company got
the drivers to have a 47 minutes break to make sure its record
the minimum rest of 45 minutes after the 4 1/2 hours driving period.
Good tip!
I always do this as the DHG doesn’t take into account when you press the button for a break i.e. you can press the break button and 1 second later the time can change, so it will read that you have had 1 minute of your break.
If that makes any sense 
Yes that make sense theghostofcain. I have to put my
hands up to this one as if had not been told that I would
have took a 15 min break or 45 min break ect and would
have then driven off losing a minute 
.
I always do that as well, for the same reasons as theghostofcain. Better to be safe than sorry.
I do find it painful though, especially when you are in a hurry to get home (or wherever). That 1 extra minute takes forever!
I always set my alarm for 45 minutes, by the time I have woken up and started the engine etc there is another 5 minutes on the clock. Excel actually insist you have 50 min break or 3 twenty min breaks just to make sure yu are on the safe side all the time.
I’ve always taken my break plus at least 2 mins to be sure.
The problem is with the company who analyse the tacho’s. These computer analysis systems are much less accurate than doing it properly, that is manually, & any infringement of less than a minute is unprovable as they have an accuracy of the nearest minute.
So if it happens to you don’t just accept it ask for proof of their accuracy.
NO PROOF NO OFFENCE.
Have been told by the company to take 50 minutes,sometimes I take just over an hour so if for instance I have a 3 hour tip somewhere,I can use the extra hour so I can do a 16 hour split daily rest.
Also if I do a split 45 minutes driving break I take for instance 18minutes and 33 minutes just to make sure I ve had enough break.It annoys me a bit,especially if im in a rush,but its worth it just to be on the safe side.
Thanks for the replies, bikemonkey can you explain a bit
more on the I can use the extra hour so I can do a 16 hour
split daily rest . Only thing I can find is 13 hours working including
breaks and 11 hours rest which is the norm or you can reduce your
rest down to 9 hours 3 times of the week and do 15 hours including
breaks but then says something about with compensation before the
end of the following week .
Alright convoy here goes,Im sure someone will put me right should I get it wrong.
I work on containers so it might not apply to you as much ,as a lot of the time I have long unloading times (tips)
You obviously have your 13 hour days with 11 hours daily rest =24 hour period
your (upto)15 hour days with minimum 9 hours daily rest =24 hour period x3
with a 16 hour split if you have a 4 hour break during the day,you can do a 16 hour shift with the last period i.e your daily rest being a minimum 8 hours.
so in theory you have had a 12 hour daily rest (4+8 =12)
The 4 hour period can be made up of 2+2 hours,3+1 hours and like I say the last rest period must be minimum 8 hours equalling 12 hours.
Also there is no need to compensate,and does not count in the 3 reduced rests you have per week.in other words you could do upto 6 splits per week.
the split cannot be 1+1+1+1+8 or 2+1+1+8
hope this helps 
Yes that helped bikemonkey 
. As you say it might not
apply to me but I am making a note of it in my tacho
book as you never know one day It might apply to me.
I have got to read the WTD post as I haven’t yet I hope
there is not to many changes as I am still learning all
about driving hours and tachos now.
i normally try and take a 20 min and a 30 min that way im well covered
Further to bike monkeys excellent explanation I’d just point out that the 4 hours doesn’t have to be made of whole hours, any two breaks adding up to 4 hours as long as they are not shorter than one hour are legal. For example the following would all be legal 1hr 20 min + 2 hr 40 min, 2 hr 10 min + 1 hr 50 min 1 hr 17 min + + 2 hr 43 min. I have known drivers who insisted that only whole hours counted so it is worth pointing out that this isn’t the case.
Also the last break has to be a minimum of 8 hours so can be more which means that if you had had say 3 hours of rest, made up of 1 or 2 periods each not less than one hour, you could take 9 hours daily rest and this wouldn’t count as a reduced daily rest. Handy when you have used all your nines already in the week. Likewise 2 hours of break during the day would mean you could take a 10 hour daily rest and again this wouldn’t count as a reduction.
Any combination that adds up to 12 is fine as long as the longest and last is at least 8 hours and the 12 hours consists of no more than 3 breaks.
Coffeeholic:
Further to bike monkeys excellent explanation I’d just point out that the 4 hours doesn’t have to be made of whole hours, any two breaks adding up to 4 hours as long as they are not shorter than one hour are legal. For example the following would all be legal 1hr 20 min + 2 hr 40 min, 2 hr 10 min + 1 hr 50 min 1 hr 17 min + + 2 hr 43 min. I have known drivers who insisted that only whole hours counted so it is worth pointing out that this isn’t the case.Also the last break has to be a minimum of 8 hours so can be more which means that if you had had say 3 hours of rest, made up of 1 or 2 periods each not less than one hour, you could take 9 hours daily rest and this wouldn’t count as a reduced daily rest. Handy when you have used all your nines already in the week. Likewise 2 hours of break during the day would mean you could take a 10 hour daily rest and again this wouldn’t count as a reduction.
Any combination that adds up to 12 is fine as long as the longest and last is at least 8 hours and the 12 hours consists of no more than 3 breaks.
Thanks for that Coffee.the other day I had 2 hrs 45 in Manchester,drove to shipley and had 1 hr 15 ,thus making 4 hours
Was told by TM that they had to be complete hours,I did nt dispute this with him although I did nt agree with him,as I have read on tacho regs that the break must be no less than an hour,but every minute over the hour counts as rest.
He told me that odd minutes dont count.
I also about a month ago I said about the 3+9 and 2+10 he basically laughed at me and said that it must be 4 hours and minimum 8 and that was that.Although again I did nt dispute,but felt myself wanting to argue my point.As it says on tacho regs something like:SPLIT REST where a driver can split his/her rest into 2 or 3 periods of at least an hour with the last period being no less than 8 hours…
It says nothing about it being 4 hours!!!
I know Im fairly new to driving and tacho regs,but from what I have read and talking to other drivers ,I dont think he really knows what he s talking about 
But dont really have the balls to go against what he has said to me.
Having a TM who only thinks they know the rules is normal Convoy. If you have a TM who does know the rules, you are lucky (or not, depending on your outlook 
).
It looks to me as if you have studied the rules a bit and thought about what is written down in black and white. You seem to have reached the same interpretation as almost all of us on here have. I would say that you where right and your TM is wrong (what a surprise ).
I have studied the rules a bit Simon and have picked
up some good tips off trucknet and the driver I was
with on friday. I also seen how important load security
is and things to do with multi drop work like rearranging
your drops as they have you going to one drop then later
on coming back near that drop as a computer works out route
by post codes.
If you get 6 drivers round a coffee machine you will probably get 6 different answers which they will swear are correct!
A bit like Trucknet really.
Someone once tried to tell me you could do the 16 hr spread 12 hour thing with 8 hours rest.
Try telling a BAG inspector you are going to make up the 4 hours later 