Does anyone else out there share my frustration and anger about the over restrictive 90 hours fortnightly driving limit?
Ever since i started driving trucks i have always adhered to and respected legislation regarding drivers hours as best i can but i feel that 90 hours driving in any two week period is too restrictive for long distance and international drivers like myself-for example if i do 56 hours driving in week 1 i am restricted to 34 hours in week 2.
Nobody wants to work long hours when they work close to home but for an international driver like myself who is away from home up to 7-8 weeks at a time you want to keep the wheels turning as much as you legally can-being parked up in aservice station somewhere in europe for 3 days at a time in 35degrees heat because you are out of driving hours can be frustrating and expensive!
I dont believe this stupid rule is of any benefit to long distance drivers,many i speak to say its next to impossible to comply with-for example should a driver who has been away from home for 2 weeks get prosecuted for going a few hours over their 90 hours to get home to see their family?
Things have got worse with the introduction of the digital tacho and its problem of rounding of minutes in heavy traffic-i can lose between 2-3hours every fortnight because of it!
I think the drivers hours laws are a good thing but if i had the power to change any piece of legislation i would abolish the 90 hours fortnightly driving limit and let drivers drive up to 56 hours every week[as well as allowing 3 10hour driving shifts]or if a limit had to be set get it set at a more flexible 105 hours per fortnightly.
I enjoy truck driving very much but am reconsidering doing international work long term because of this restrictive rule.
Problem is Calum that if you get given a finger people react and want the whole bloody arm in that ,instead of 56hrs a week , they will DO Much Much More,you will have to do, what many are now doing and that is use a casual driver to ensure that the rules and laws are obeyed, more bills to get written
off as a tax loss.
i’ve only fallen foul of the 90 hour rule once so i don’t see it as a big problem but i would get rid of the wtd surely we only need one set of rules governing the hours we work
Mr B:
i’ve only fallen foul of the 90 hour rule once so i don’t see it as a big problem but i would get rid of the wtd surely we only need one set of rules governing the hours we work
good point is that -
Average weekly driving limit is 45 hours and the RTD weekly average is 48 hours - not much between the two for long distance drivers - both would have to be changed to make any legal difference for long distance drivers.
No matter what the hours are set at some people will always want more. A busy agency would love to have you on a 7 hour break isntead of 9. Drivers who got 105 driving hours per fortnight would still want more. Up the limit to 65 mph you would get drivers doing 70.
I personally would want the 9 hour break only to apply away from base and a max working day of 13 hours. These rules will also get more drivers into work. Also i am happy to drive at 52 mph even tho some people say its dangerous because they lose concentration. Well ok maybe we could let them drive at 100 mph as then they would prob be more alert. 
Have to agree with the post above.
It’s a decent pay rate for the job rather than more hours that is needed.
LASHHGV:
I personally would want the 9 hour break only to apply away from base and a max working day of 13 hours.
Which is it, 9 hour break or 13 hours max working day ? Coz one gives you 15 hours working and the other gives you 11 hours rest.
Personally I don’t want the 9 hours rest reduced. I often have to work an hour at least away from where I live, so I’m only getting 7 hours as it is. 9 hours is the minimum for tramping though, especially 3 times a week. I used to love the extra money, but I’d rather get some decent kip these days, especially if I end up on a salary (here’s hoping). Plus I’ve already been warned for going over 60 hours in a week on the WTD.
I think the 9 hour reduced should only apply away from base too. As I’ve said before 9 hours rest for me = six hours sleep once travel time and personal hygine and food is taken into account. Sometimes that isn’t enough, especially when you have done two and they want you to reduce again. It’s one thing for a tramper to have nine hours off but another entirely for a day worker to only have nine off.
tofer:
I think the 9 hour reduced should only apply away from base too.
Even then, I think it is insufficient. Twelve hours at base, ten when away from base should be the minimum IHMO.
None of us would be happy taking the kids on holiday on an aeroplane if the aeroplane driver had only had six hours sleep every day that week.
And of course, the Law of Supply and Demand says that the less hours we work, the more we will earn for each hour, so we wouldn’t lose money by working less hours.
CALUM:
Does anyone else out there share my frustration and anger about the over restrictive 90 hours fortnightly driving limit?
Ever since i started driving trucks i have always adhered to and respected legislation regarding drivers hours as best i can but i feel that 90 hours driving in any two week period is too restrictive for long distance and international drivers like myself-for example if i do 56 hours driving in week 1 i am restricted to 34 hours in week 2.
Nobody wants to work long hours when they work close to home but for an international driver like myself who is away from home up to 7-8 weeks at a time you want to keep the wheels turning as much as you legally can-being parked up in aservice station somewhere in europe for 3 days at a time in 35degrees heat because you are out of driving hours can be frustrating and expensive!
I dont believe this stupid rule is of any benefit to long distance drivers,many i speak to say its next to impossible to comply with-for example should a driver who has been away from home for 2 weeks get prosecuted for going a few hours over their 90 hours to get home to see their family?
Things have got worse with the introduction of the digital tacho and its problem of rounding of minutes in heavy traffic-i can lose between 2-3hours every fortnight because of it!
I think the drivers hours laws are a good thing but if i had the power to change any piece of legislation i would abolish the 90 hours fortnightly driving limit and let drivers drive up to 56 hours every week[as well as allowing 3 10hour driving shifts]or if a limit had to be set get it set at a more flexible 105 hours per fortnightly.
I enjoy truck driving very much but am reconsidering doing international work long term because of this restrictive rule.
Driver Law and Working Time Directive is done to keep Work safe and press a Second Driver in the Cab to keep Jobless Numbers low.
You don’t like it?
ROG:
…It’s a decent pay rate for the job rather than more hours that is needed.
Absolutely! I wish the vast majority of truck drivers in this country would show some balls for once, and fight for a decent hourly rate!
ROG:
Have to agree with the post above.
It’s a decent pay rate for the job rather than more hours that is needed.
thats the Point
if i could change things, it would be to simplify the rules.
14 hour maximum working day, maximum 6 days,full 45 minute break, no split breaks, no daily, weekly, or fortnightly driving limit as long as you do your work within the 14 hour day, and 6 day period.
36 hours weekly rest, reduced to 24 when away, but must be followed by 48 hours by the second week.
therefore you can do 36,36,36 every week or 24,48,24,48.
scrap the WTD. and all truck bans.
and introduce an eu wide tax disk, then no tolls.
im not keen on altering the 90 hour fortnight.personally, i think the hours now are enough,however i do take your point of interntional drivers,but if you change 1 rule for 1…
the way things are working out for me at the moment,im doing a long week,then a short,ie,two weeks ago worked 6 days,got home saturday late aafternoon.by the time i got fed,washed,it was bedtime,sunday dinner wash uniform,and back to work.last weekend though,i got finished early friday for my fortnightly hours and reduced weekly rest payback.
now,if you abolished the 90 hour rule,it would mean employers would have drivers working every saturday,and basically taking the mickey.
i do agree with mr b that the wtd is absurd and should be abolished.
Always makes me laugh this. Every time my mate runs out of driving hours on a Friday he thinks the law should be changed to allow three 10 hour daily driving limits, just to ‘square it off and make it like the three 15’s’ !!! Although if it was he’d then want four in a week
I do agree its different with ‘International drivers’ though. We shouldn’t have any !! Ship it all, it’s more ecofriendly, reduces our carbon footprint, makes more work for me working out of the ports and gets rid of driver fatigue to boot !!
Ive recently been reading up on the drivers hours overe this side of the pond. Im not 100% certain on this but heres a rough breakdown of what we can do legally over here.
13 Hours Driving / 14 on duty to work a max of 16 hours daily with a 10 hour rest - In Canada
70 hours max per 7 day period, 36 hour reset . - In Canada
120 hours max per 14 day period , 72 hour reset. - In Canada
11 hours driving / 14 on duty max, with a 10 hour rest - In USA
60 hours max per 7 days , 70 hours max per 8 days, 34 hour reset - In USA
I hope this is laid out so you guys can make sense of it, as far as i can tell we have no requirement legally to have a break in our driving time (although i will be, as i dont really fancy driving 13 hours non stop)
So in Canada you can use 2 hours of the next day as part of your last days rest, could that get confusing if you did it every day when working out day seven.
i would say the problem lies in the planning
and not the law
where are you going to be away for 7-8 weeks
how many change overs do you do in that time
you could do middle east and back
Phil for PM. 
Mike C Wrote
“I do agree its different with ‘International drivers’ though. We shouldn’t have any !! Ship it all, it’s more ecofriendly, reduces our carbon footprint, makes more work for me working out of the ports and gets rid of driver fatigue to boot !!”
Unfortunately this assumes that the other forms of transport required to assist the movement of said BOXES is as efficient in all terms as road transport and from my experience of inter-modal transport they dont work efficiently and container terminals always seem to be over-congested which would be an even greater problem should we convert to boxes as our only means of international transport.
We could always get rid of containers and go back to the old days of individual cargo movements and get more dockers back into work. 