I am currently working in a traffic office for a coach company.
The transport manager is an old guy who has been in the business for 30 plus years and is somewhat set in his ways. Today we had a discussion around weekly rest. I said that if we gave a driver a single day off (a reduced weekly rest) then we had to compensate for it accordingly. His response was to tell me that as we gave them a 45 the following week it was fine.
A bit of debate ensued with him firmly telling me that it was perfectly legal to work with a 45 24 45 basis continuously!
He used the following diagram to back up his point:
Now, am i missing something here? I was under the impression that if you reduced, say to a 24 hr rest, you effectively had 21 hrs to compensate for by the end of the third week, meaning at some point you either have to have 66 hrs in one hit, or a 30 hr daily rest along with a the correct weekly rest period for that week.
Or can you actually simply work 6 days one week then 5 the next on a continuous basis?
Assuming that the coach drivers are working to EU regulations then you’re correct, reduced weekly rest periods should be compensated for by the end of the third week following the week for which there was a reduced weekly rest period.
Pages 20/21 Rules on Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs (Passenger-carrying vehicles in GB and Europe)
Yep, we work under EU regs.
Part of the reason i have been recruited is to try and modernise the working practices. The problem i have at the moment is that the TM is pretty unwilling to listen to any way that isn’t his way!
You should have heard the argument when he found out that under the “12 day” rule drivers had to have 4 days off when they come back! For those that don’t know this rule, it allows PCV drivers to postpone a weekly rest period for up to 12 days if they are working abroad. However you have to have a 45 before you go, then either 2 full 45’s back to back or a 45 & a 24 back to back when you return. Obviously you then have to still compensate for the reduction.
We have vehicles that have not had their VU’s downloaded since January, drivers that haven’t had their cards downloaded since January and no real system of monitoring drivers hours.
It’s a disaster waiting to happen. But if i push too hard i know it is going to massively kick off and possibly cost me my job. Bottom line is that it isn’t my name on the O Licence but i fear for the drivers because they will get shafted.