Vocational driver conduct

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Thought some of you might be interested in reading the new Senior Traffic Commissioners Statutory Document No 6 - Vocational Driver Conduct.

Takes effect from January. I think it makes for interesting reading.

There’s actually a whole set of new guidance documents for TMs and Operators etc … all worth a read

Apologies if this has been posted before.

2

…

3

Thought I might just highlight this little snippet :wink:

Conduct & fitness
45. Drivers are expected to fully acquaint themselves with the relevant legislation before
undertaking employment as a professional driver. Drivers cannot evade their personal
responsibility by stating that they bowed to their employer’s orders on issues related
to their obligations under the regulations.25…bbaaaaaa

  1. The judgement on whether the licence holder’s conduct as a driver makes him unfit to
    hold the licence cannot be focused exclusively upon the matters which gave rise to
    the referral to the traffic commissioner, but should embrace the licence holder’s
    conduct as a driver as a whole, good and bad, relevant to the question whether, at
    the time of making the judgment, the licence holder is unfit. For example, it may be
    relevant to fitness whether the matters of complaint took place in isolation or against
    a background of repeated disregard for the law of the road.26
4

Now that highlighted snippet should be noted by some tipper drivers.
Something that was discussed a few days ago.

5

albion1971:
Now that highlighted snippet should be noted by some tipper drivers.
Something that was discussed a few days ago.

We don’t agree on much but I fully agree with you on that. :open_mouth:
I’ve been expected to drive dodgy stuff that I’ve constantly noted on defect sheets for example. One clown company even slated me to a member of my family because I kept “nit picking and writing down silly faults.” “Silly faults” meant not being able to release the cab bonnet to check fluid levels, heavy oil use, strange noises from the propshaft, engine warning lights, abs warnings etc.
Still, you buy junk off ebay from some diddycoy in Bedfordshire what do you expect?

6

albion1971:
Now that highlighted snippet should be noted by some tipper drivers.
Something that was discussed a few days ago.

Not just tipper drivers though, you’ll find endless so called ‘professional’ drivers, that will purposefully break highway rules and put other road users at serious risk, just to creep and crawl as far up their bosses backside as is possible. It remains a mystery to me, why someone who is getting paid by the hour, is rushing around to earn less hours income?

Having said that, if employers are purposefully putting drivers under undue pressure either by threats of redundancy or by offering payment schemes that actively encourage drivers to do reckless things then they too are part of the problem. They are after all, also happy to profit from those drivers actions.

7

I agree it is not just tipper drivers. I also agree employers may be part of the problem but at the end of the day it is the drivers responsibility to drive in a correct manner.
Only the driver will be held responsible for his or her actions on the road.

8

I think the new statutory document for the TM makes a very interesting read in combination with the driver conduct document …