Guys
Help me out here!
When the Tacho was introduced to the UK in the 80’s, the driving time we were allowed to do was cut.
I think, I’m not sure, it was cut from 10 hrs driving to 8.
Do any of you remember this?
Alex
When i first started in the early 80s, it was max 8 hrs driving (30min break after 4) and ithink it was 11 1/2 hour spreadover ?.
Before tachos, couldnt you more or less please yourselves regards driving hours on the logbooks 
Probably wrong 
but wasnt tachos introduced in the late 70s ?
You might have that the wrong way round Alex. The Tachograph became compulsory in 1986 and I think the actual driving hours are the same now as then. Will soon know if I’m wrong, no doubt. 
I started full time driving in 1982 and tachos were in use then, I feel sure that you had to have a half hour break after 41/2 hours ON DUTY. I recall that we had a job to get to Dudley and back from Ashbourne in the time due to traffic, but when it changed to 41/2 hours DRIVING we did it easily.
The first truck that we had with a tacho was a P reg, 1976, Foden but I think that they became legal in the late '70’s. I remember a RHA official giving us a talk on how to use them and one driver asking about night’s out, the RHA chaps comment was that Brittain wasn’t big enough to need a night out!
Talking about log books reminds me of a story one of our drivers (now sadly deceased) told me. He had a regular run each day and was pulled early one morning by a m/cycle patrol for a logbook check. He was “bricking it” as he hadn’t filled it in for a day or so but handed it over, “that appears fine driver, on your way” the bobby said. Huh my pal thought, he doesn’t know much, but he made sure that it was filled in properly for the next day. The following morning, same bobby at the same spot! He handed the book over again, confident this time. “Ah, I thought that yesterday morning might jog your memory” the PC said, “well done”. He wasnt so daft after all!! He kept it filled in after that.
Pete.
I also started driving Class One at the beginning of the Eighties and definately used log books for several years so 1986 sounds good for the official and madatory use of tacho’s, many companies had introduced these earlier so the drivers got well used to them before the legal date. As for hours, the first job I had after leaving the forces in 1980 was running gas pipes to Portobello from the Hartlepool works and 4 hrs seems to stick in my mind to get to the drop and 4 back to the yard, running back empty, making a total of 8 driving hrs. I believe the tacho rules allowed an hour more making 4 and a half before a 45 min break was required followed by another 4 and a half but I would have to check through some old stuff to confirm this (bit late to do it tonight). By the 90’s the rules had been messed about with that much drivers didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing and some test cases were going on because in certain parts of the country the police had been doing drivers for excess driving because they had split their break times through out the day and it was a bit of a grey area. The company I worked for at that time bought us hours calculators to make working out the times easier, still got it somewhere. Thank god all I do today is show my face in the morning at half seven and go out the door at half four and just get on with it in between. Franky.
In the Fifties and Sixties there was no statuary Tacho’s just log sheets, the driving hours were 11 hours driving per day with 2 twelve hour driving days allowed providing these were not consecutive and you could only work a six day driving week if you had done a twelve. It was normal to fill in these log sheets at the end of the days work where you put times and places of delivery’s and pick ups if shunting, also times of breaks taken, by law a half hour break had to be taken after a maximum of five and a half hours driving, on a twelve you had to take a further half hour break again after five and a half hours driving. The Ministry people expected you to have your log sheets up to date to the hour if you were checked, but normally these checks would be as part of a maintanance road side check (Lay By) and they would say to you in a pointed manner “We will want to see your log sheets in a minute Driver” and would then leave you to complete them up to date. You can imagine that some of these log sheets were fine works of fiction and certainly some imagination was used. When I was on Sutton’s he had the clock on the back of the cab which sensed when the waggon was on the move, allthough as shunters we took no notice of these the trunkers were expected to run to London from St. Helens in a certain time, this required a very slow pace, even with a Gardner LW, and on occasions a manager named Baker used to take milometer readings at St. Helens and then drive down to London to take milometer readings to make sure the trunkers were not swanning around to put time on the clock. The four London trunkers who were on change over at Bobs at Ryton used to ignore this.
Tony.
I remember my dad having one of them clocks when he delivered new cars from the works and they were supposed to stick to 30 mph running in speed. They recorded traveling time from which the speed would be calculated, The company would insert a card each day, then the clock would be locked and handed to the driver. It didn’t take long for someone to make some keys, so when they had been “nipping on a bit” at 45 mph! dad could be seen sitting at home in the evening, watching the twelve inch tele, whilst gently rocking the clock and looking inside to see if he had got there yet!! Re the log books, I seem to remember in the '70s them changing from filling in the places and times to a sort of graph with boxes with sybols on and you drew a line through which one you were doing at what time. Think these were the forrunner to the tacho’s coming in. 
SuttonsTony
BigG-Unit
I remember those clocks that worked on “cab motion” well although I never drove a vehicle with one fitted ! I was on a night-out in Bristol once and a fellow driver from the same digs sat in the cinema “rocking & rolling” his clock !
When the last batch of log-books were introduced (just prior to tacho’s) – the ones where you drew joined up lines through the times – I seem to recall there was a daily mileage limit you were allowed to cover, possibly 281 miles ! Ring any bells with anyone else ■■
Big Leggy:
SuttonsTony
BigG-UnitI remember those clocks that worked on “cab motion” well although I never drove a vehicle with one fitted ! I was on a night-out in Bristol once and a fellow driver from the same digs sat in the cinema “rocking & rolling” his clock !
When the last batch of log-books were introduced (just prior to tacho’s) – the ones where you drew joined up lines through the times – I seem to recall there was a daily mileage limit you were allowed to cover, possibly 281 miles ! Ring any bells with anyone else ■■
I remember that 280 mile/450 Km thing,but not quite sure what it was all about.I do remember thinking it was a load of rubbish but did try to make it look right 
and I was never challenged for exceeding the limit.That’s two of us recalls the limit,anybody else? Shell drivers stuck it out to the death as far as operating on tachographs was concerned and I was turned out of Shell,Stanlow in 1978 because my Marathon had one fitted although I was using a log book.
Chris Webb:
Big Leggy:
SuttonsTony
BigG-UnitI remember those clocks that worked on “cab motion” well although I never drove a vehicle with one fitted ! I was on a night-out in Bristol once and a fellow driver from the same digs sat in the cinema “rocking & rolling” his clock !
When the last batch of log-books were introduced (just prior to tacho’s) – the ones where you drew joined up lines through the times – I seem to recall there was a daily mileage limit you were allowed to cover, possibly 281 miles ! Ring any bells with anyone else ■■I remember that 280 mile/450 Km thing,but not quite sure what it was all about.I do remember thinking it was a load of rubbish but did try to make it look right
I remember the 280 mile 421km thing too, was it only for international though? I remember the F88 came fitted with a tacho although probably not legal or calibrated. I had the pleasure of a fine and wrist slapping for failure to complete a weekly report after a routine check in Bawtry.
Found in Hansard from about 1972.
As we have heard, the Bill is necessary so that the Road Traffic Act 1972 may comply with EEC Regulation 543/69. There is one aspect of the Regulations which has given rise to concern in the industry. As I understand them, the Community rules lay down that on any international or internal journey there is a time and distance limit. It seems that no driver may drive for more than eight hours or 450 kilometres in any one day–I understand that the British or Anglo-Saxon measurements are approximately 280 miles–whereas on a journey wholly within the United Kingdom there is a time limit, already laid down, of 10 hours, but there is no distance limit. This worries the industry and, as the Minister in another place is next week to take part in negotiations in Brussels, all of us hope that a new compromise agreement can be reached, since the continuing firm adherence to Regulation 543/69 has already given rise to concern in the Community; the industry here sees some serious additional costs arising should the Minister not manage to find an acceptable solution. A two-year deferment of the application of Regulation 543/69 to the Act would be most acceptable, and I believe that this is what the Minister is likely to seek. Certainly we shall be very grateful if he can find a solution to this problem, which is becoming more evident every day.
I should like to say a few words about the tachograph, which records speed, time, distance, non-driving time and rest periods and, with certain optional extras, can also record engine speed and other event data. The tachograph has been in use in Germany since the early 1950s and it has been used in the original six Member countries of the EEC since 1970. None of the unions of those countries has regarded the introduction of the tachograph as being a “spy in the cab”, as it has been dubbed by the media in this country. It is looked on as a help in stopping “cowboy” hauliers. Also, if it is fitted with certain options, it can be a help in fleet maintenance and preventive maintenance, with possible by-products in the safety line. However, Mr. James, of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, said last July that the union would continue to maintain its opposition to the tachograph, no matter what the EEC Regulations laid down.
As matters stand, I feel that there is likely to be fairly strong resistance because already, in 1967—68, the union has forced the Government to drop this measure. In a way, the road hauliers, too, are likely to be against the measure, as the cost promises to be of the order of £100 a vehicle. In addition, being specialised machinery, the tachograph will require skilled maintenance and people to interpret the data. More expense will therefore be incurred in training that staff. Also, no date has at yet been fixed for when this is likely to be required.
I feel sure that the mileage restriction was only applicable to Class 1, we were doing more than that daily on eight wheelers. I am still not certain when tacho’s became compulsory in the UK, we were definately using them before 1982 as I used to fill one in for taking wagons for annual test and I left the garage to go full time driving in '82. Oh for a memory!!
The other device was called the SERVIS RECORDER, they are now sought after to fit in classic trucks.
Pete.
I am still not certain when tacho’s became compulsory in the UK, we were definately using them before 1982
It was September 1986 they became compulsory. Many had them fitted before that to help things along, get used to them etc.
Is this of any use,In EU
EEC regulation 3821/85 [1] from December 20, 1985 made tachographs mandatory throughout the EEC as of September 29, 1986. A “European arrangement in regard to the work of driving personnel engaged in international traffic” (AETR) became effective on July 31, 1985. Regulation 561/2006/EC of the European Union adopted on April 11, 2007[2] specified the driving and rest times of professional drivers. These time periods can be checked by the employers, police and other authorities with the help of the tachograph.
The above comes fromHERE
OK Guys, thank you all very much.
If I remember right, the 280 rule did not apply to UK transport, only over the water.
I may be wrong.
I think 1986 is about right for the introduction as I worked with United Glass at the time and they were introduced shortly before I was made redundant.
As to the hours rule,I had vaguely remembered that the hours were cut. Your contribution jogged my memory.
I wanted the information so I could finish a story I was writing.
Thank you all very much, once again.
Take Care
Alex
alexsaville:
OK Guys, thank you all very much.
If I remember right, the 280 rule did not apply to UK transport, only over the water.
I may be wrong.
I think 1986 is about right for the introduction as I worked with United Glass at the time and they were introduced shortly before I was made redundant.
As to the hours rule,I had vaguely remembered that the hours were cut. Your contribution jogged my memory.
I wanted the information so I could finish a story I was writing.
Thank you all very much, once again.Take Care
Alex
Alex,the 280/450 rule definitely applied to the UK in the late 70s but I can’t remember what it was all about except that not all vehicles were subject to it.
Somebody will shed some light on it I’m sure.
I had an F88 with Tach fitted , that was old!!! M reg UHV726M , You could put a pack of , i think !!! 7 tachos in all at once , each disc had a slit in it , when it had done a 24 hr cycle , the needle would drop through the slit and start recording on the next disc in the pack . I havnt spoken to anybody yet that can remember these , some one back me up and say YES I had one of them !!! If my memory serves me right you did a stint in EU on the Tacho then had to run on that on return to UK for 21 days .
old trucker
I remember those “7 day” cards well __ in fact when I was moving home about 3yrs ago I dumped a half box I found in an old briefcase (along with some blank “Zahlkarte”,“Laufzettel”,“Kontrollschein”, CH"Warenauswis" & “Treibstoffausweis” forms) !!
I believe they were made illegal to use at some time but cannot remember when – they did cause problems with the French Gendarmes but again I cannot remember why !!
Someone older or wiser will be able to tell us I’m sure – Incidentally when first started on European work we were still on log books but Europe were on tacho’s (many a problem again with Gendarmes) so was there a period of grace before we were compelled to fit a tacho to a G.B. vehicle ?
well done " Big Leggy" , I was beginning to think i had dreamt it all !!!
The 280 miles 450km rule was brought in to encourage the use of tachographs. If you still used logbooks in the changeover period you could only do 450km a day,if on tacho you could do what was legally possible. I got checked by the police in Newcastle in about 1982 and they checked the mileage i had done against the log book . I was told you wont be going much further today driver you have only 50kms left today .I dutyfully agreed with them and carried on to Berwick.
Hi All
My memory seems to tell me during that really bad winter of January / February 82 I was stuck in the Walsall depot and on Log sheets at that time and with the 79 ERF B series that had come with a Tachometer , when working only locally I was told by the boss to run on Tachos and log sheets as well mainly for tonnage and mileage bonuses ETC. I still have some old log sheets of june /July 1982 used only for bonus and overtime puposes by then , I know by 1986 I was driving a MAN and wed been on Tachos some time . Sorry Alexsaville if Ive thrown a spanner in the works .
Frenchy