Just wondered if anyone could shed some light on this for me. Currently full time Support worker with a 4 week rolling rota. My weekly hours for the rota are 43, 34, 43, 15. Total hours 135 over the four weeks.
I am planning to work my way up to Class 2 and just drive agency on my days off for some extra money and also experience so that if I find a job I like I can try full time trucking. Plan on getting my CPC, Tacho and Medical so I can drive 7.5t while I save up for my Class 2 licence.
I get every Thursday and Friday off and every second Monday off and plan to use these days as my agency Truck days.
However, a friend tells me that I cannot work more than 48hrs in a given week. This would mean I can only drive 5 hrs on my 43hr weeks, 14 hrs on my 34hr week and 33 on my 15hr week.
Is my friend correct? There’s no way I will find a 5hr slot on those 43hr weeks. Meaning I could prob only do one shift on my 34hr week and two shifts on my 15hr week.
Hopefully I have explained myself properly and that someone can shed some light on this for me. I have zero problem working over 48hrs. I imagined myself doing around 63hrs on those 43hr weeks for instance.
Your working time must not exceed an average of 48 hours per week over the reference period.
In your case the time spent working in your usual job probably doesn’t count towards the average 48 hours for the drivers working time regulations.
Do you drive in your usual job?
I think your biggest problem will be the required weekly rest periods.
In any week that you drive in-scope of EU regulations you must have a weekly rest period of no less than 24 consecutive hours and every second week you must have a weekly rest period of no less than 45 hours.
Thanks for the response. No, no driving in my job other than the commute. Damn, that 45hr rest rule will hurt my ambitions I reckon. Does that literally mean 45 hrs with zero work? My day job isn’t taxing and I get 8hrs sleep every night.
Yes, you need to take at least 45 hours break each fortnight. There are agencies out there that might be able to give you some work on your days off, but I think you would only be able to work once or twice a fortnight.
Week 1, I am off Thursday and Friday. So, could work Thursday and have Friday as my 24hr rest period.
Week 2, I am off Monday, Thursday and Friday. So, I could work the Monday and used Thursday, Friday off as my 45hr rest period.
Week 3, I am off Thursday and Friday. So, like week 1, I could work the Thursday and have the Friday as my 24hr rest period.
Week 4 I am off Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So, effectively I could work Monday, Thursday And Friday and use the Saturday and Sunday as my 45hr rest period.
So, over the four weeks I would have availability for 6 shifts. Did I do the maths right here regarding the rest periods?
Yep, I believe so. You’ll find that agency work is a little bit sporadic (depending on location) so I doubt you’ll be able to fill all of your days, especially to begin with. You would also increase your options if you were to get your Class 1 licence if that was of interest to you.
All the best with it, and this forum is a great place to go to get more information on anything you need!
Thanks. Yes, well aware the shifts may indeed be sporadic, especially to begin with. Going to register with a few agencies once I have what I need to drive 7.5t. Class 1 is out of the realm of my costings at the moment (was quoted £1500 for Class 2, £3000 for C+E). If I were to change careers to trucking full time then Class 1 would definitely be something I would be aiming for.
@tachograph, thanks for the info but was already aware of this. Have done quite a bit of research so far but thanks anyway
