Our gaffer reckons that despite us working an average 65hr week, the new Working Time Directive is not going to affect us much. But by my calculations, if we continue as usual come March, we will notch up, an average of 5 hours deficit over the 48 hours working time going by the new rules, if we stop doing our wee bits of maintenance (changing bulbs, washing wagons etc) and just do the basic driving duties. Add this up over 17 weeks and we will be 85hrs in debt.
So we had a meeting with our boss last Friday to see what will be done. “Nothing is gonna change” was his response. No change in pay to compensate for the loss of hours. The workload will be the same. Who knows when we will get a chance to wash our wagons and the maintenance is a bit lax to say the least as it is, never mind the drivers not doing any cos of lack of time. How it’s all gonna pan out is anyones guess. I’m worried to say the least.
What are your respective companies doing to cope with the new laws?
£ 28000 for 48 hours, so if our load will not be ready until dinner Monday that is when we start, and when we get back we sort our truck out then go home, and that does not include expenses.
our firm is introducing the wtd from january. we have been told we will all be spoken to sometime beforehand about it all and how it will affect us. but the whispers are that we will carry on as we are…but i can’t see how. so we will just have to wait and see
I don’t think anyone really knows how it will affect everyone. I’m quite luckily in as much as i don’t think i’ve done a 48 hour week for as long as i can remember. From what i can make out it’s gunna be that your working more hours and not actually getting paid.
Also, going from what Lucy interpreted, it’s down to the management aswell as the driver to look after your hours, i think the only thing you can do is keep a really good record of the work during the day and keep track of it for the first 17 weeks, then you can start to make sense of it, then when the bosses try to pull one over your eyes, you know what your working with in means of your time.
I really cannot see how it’s going to work. I’ve read the draft and spoken in general to people, but the main feeling i’m getting is, it’s not in until march why worry about it now. It will affect the way the job is, it may work to our advantage it may not, we’re not going to know until it happens.
I think the government would be wise to actually hold workshops, free to people in the industry who wanna know more about it and the way it will work in practise, but like someone said, it’s written by people who don’t do the job, and therefore it wouldn’t warrant any kind of demonstration.
On reading a few threads leading up to the WTD i could tell that it was a worry for many…as time went on i could see that a driver would benefit a great deal from working a 48 hour week and getting paid for a lot more…but alas our dreams have been shattered…of course i can well understand the driver who works 60/70 hours a week and has become dependant on this money…for i too have worked the 16 hour day…every day over 5 days…and legally too…for that is our transport system…always against the driver…and now the employers are saying that they will pay their drivers less…well i for one wouldnt put up with it…i will go to an agency…and ask their rates…and maybe laugh at most of them…but i want £100 a day…and you can easily earn that here in london…getting it…and finding the right agency is another matter…but ill let you all know in the new year..after all ..were worth it
have a nice day
No need to do anything we only work a 45 hour week plus its very rare i actually do the 45 hours more like 40 but ssshhhhhh dont tell the gaffer as he still pays me for 45
Our lot have been working towards the WTD for the last three years. They have manipulated the wages with increases on the basic only not the OT with the intention of having a flat rate. (with the blessing of the unions)
BUT last month they issued a letter informing us that we would not really be affected by the WTD and the phrase ‘PERIODS OF AVAILABILITY’ was highlighted with the intimation that this was a big get out clause for them. So I reckon we will receive no benefit from the WTD.
i’ve been seriously practising rest periods.
it’s working out quite well, this week i clocked up 60 hours on my tachograph cards from each days start to finish but when i checked with the rest periods i only actually did 41 hours duty time.
at this rate i’ll be able to do half a day for someone else every week.
what baffles me is the fact that if i take a week off work as a holiday i will actually be on duty more than a week when i go to work.
the directive claims that paid holidays cannot be used to reduce a drivers working time and must be calculated as 48 hours, so if my average over 17 weeks is 41 hours then i take 2 weeks paid holiday this will in fact boost my average working week up.
as most of my holidays i go to the states which is another continent away how can i work more hours than a normal working week?
this wtd is crazy, so crazy in fact that they can’t even decide on a name for it WTD or RTD.
i noticed that batman, spiderman and superman have been once again campaining against the wtd, as mobile workers they have found that the wtd will adversely affect their crime fighting duties and as most of their duty time is during the night they will in fact be restricted to just 10 hours duty each night.
the government have hidden this story behind the facade of justice for fathers but a press insider has revealed the truth to clark kent and the photos have been studied by peter parker and were found to have been doctored.
johnny:
the directive claims that paid holidays cannot be used to reduce a drivers working time and must be calculated as 48 hours, so if my average over 17 weeks is 41 hours then i take 2 weeks paid holiday this will in fact boost my average working week up.
A Few weeks back we had the WTD clarified after a question from Gurner regarding Milk Tankers, after reading through the WTD proposals and seeking further clarification, it was said that Holidays are not to be included in the Working Week, so holidays can be used as repayments to hours that exceeded the 48 hrs.
Another thing that was stated is that if a driver sets off Knowing that when he arrives at his destination he has a wait of for example 1 hr before tipping, this must be included in his working week, whereas, if he arrives expecting to get tipped immediately and is informed there is a 1 hour delay then this can be excluded from his 48 hr week
But whats strange in this thread is that everyone is quoting 17 weeks? the option was put in place to permit the period to be either of the following if the management AND workforce agreed amiccably:
A Fixed 17 Week Period
A Rolling 17 Week Period
A Fixed 26 Week Period
A Rolling 26 Week Period
Personally I think the Fixed 26 week period is the best option as most drivers have at least 2 weeks holiday within the 6 months, therefore someone working say 60hrs every week is working a total of 1440 hrs less breaks of 45 minutes which is approx 54 hrs + any “Unforseen” Hold up times which means over a 24 week period the total hours worked would only be around 1386 hrs the total hours available to the driver over a 26 week period would be 1248 hrs
So in effect anyone working around 54 hrs per week over the 26 week system and taking 2 weeks holiday could easily work 54hrs per week every week without any problem.
Of Course they could also buy the New Hour Guard being released in March that will give them their Average over the 26 week period
The WTD will make no odds what so ever to me. I work in the furniture trade multi-dropping at shops and warehouses, you never know how much waiting time there is until you get there to make that delivery. How on earth are the authorities going to prove that waiting time was known about before hand or not??
I’ll still be doing 240 — 300 hrs per month and not be able to do anything about it.
WTD … one size fits all, what a joke.
plus its very rare i actually do the 45 hours more like 40 but ssshhhhhh dont tell the gaffer as he still pays me for 45 
