I’m a new hgv driver and the company i work for are hiring a ■■■■■■■ lorry for doing our own tar repairs. I’ll be driving the lorry probably only 1-2 days a week and actual driving time will probably only be a couple hours a day. Will i still be tied into the working time directive for the whole week? Any advice is much appreciated.
Not your fault, but a gulley cleaner lorry?
No. A lorry that will keep tar hot all day
So each day you will drive from a depot to a site, sit there all day, then return to depot every evening? Maybe a bit of movement whilst on site?
Coal Tar? It is a separate issue but is that Dangerous Goods?
When not driving i’ll be working a digger rest of time
You might want to try posting the type of vehicle in a way that the autocensor will accept, but I’m going to guess what it didn’t like and say the vehicle is a “Hot bocks” so it will be nothing less than about 7.2 to 7.5 T, maybe up to about 26T.
WTD and RTD are there to prevent overworking, so I would question why you think it is “tying you in”. It’s there for your benefit. Road resurfacing/building isn’t an “emergency” service so there is no reason for the exemptions seen for military, police, fire services etc
Anyway, have a read of these links, which should answer your questions
https://app.croneri.co.uk/feature-articles/british-domestic-hours-rules-details-and-dangers
There is also the “utilities” exemption caveat, but I’m not 100% sure if that covers road maintenance
Whereas there is information in this link specifically regarding decisions on road maintenance activities
https://app.croneri.co.uk/feature-articles/tachograph-exemptions-maintenance-activities-updated-guidance
But basically, all you need to remember is to get a break of at least 15 mins before six hours of work is done, that’s increased to a total of 30 mins if going over six and up to nine hours of work, and total of 45 if you’re going to be working beyond 9 hours. Most guys I meet who do the road work tend to spend most of their time sitting around waiting, so getting breaks in isn’t actually a problem.
I would ignore the hair-splitting arguments you might hear and when you can avoid having breaks; personally I’m totally opposed to some of the idea about maxxing out work/driving hours and minimizing breaks/rests.
We first need to ask whether you are under or exempt from EU rules. Then if exempt whether you are then under GB Domestic rules.
Exemptions from EU rules include this
"Road maintenance and control
Vehicles used in connection with road maintenance services which:
- are engaged on a journey directly relating to the maintenance services, for example, removing rubble or other materials or
- are being used directly on the maintenance activity, for example, laying tarmac
Such vehicles will fall within this derogation however journeys to a site for the purpose of positioning the vehicle in readiness for engaging in the maintenance activity or for returning to base after the maintenance activity has ended will not fall within this derogation.
Vehicles which are to be used or have been used that same day in connection with highway maintenance and control and don’t travel far from the site where the work of highway maintenance is being carried out will fall within the derogation."
It looks to me, that you will be under full EU rules…unless you…“don’t travel far”…
Is “tar” a hazardous substance Zac?
Didn’t realise it would auto sensor but you are correct with the vehicle type. I’m probably not wording it correctly but basically does working time apply when i will only be doing minimal driving of maybe a couple hours only 1 or maybe 2 days a week or is it a case of as soon as u start driving then the working time applies?
I believe the technical term used is BITUMINOUS ROAD MATERIALS
Not hazardous in terms of ADR, but elevated temperature substances (liquids over 100 deg C, solids over 240 deg C) are required to display the elevated temperature marking, which is covered within ADR training
MSDS available at
I think you’ve mixing up the rules:
Are you working? Of course you are.
Working time rules of one type or the other will apply. You’re not in a WTD-exempt job. Whether you’re driving or not is not the issue.
I think you’ve heard something about this, which covers daily duty limits when under GB Domestic
Daily duty
In any working day the maximum amount of duty permitted is 11 hours. A driver is exempt from the daily duty limit (11 hours) on any working day when they do not drive.
A driver who does not drive for more than 4 hours on each day of the week is exempt from the daily duty limit for the whole week.
I think i am getting confused. Thanks for the advice. Its much appreciated
From Zac’s link to Cromer
“On that front, operators should always ask themselves whether the driving duties which are required are capable of being carried out in full compliance with EC 561/2006; if they are, then one practical solution is for the operator to perform the work in scope, record it on tachograph and leave the argument of an exemption to one side (and in so doing avoid the need to spend time and money obtaining professional assistance).”
Or in other words obey the EU regs and you will have zero worries.
Another thought though…sorry… but trying to keep you out of trouble…
O-Licence?
Not really a worry for the driver if the operator is committing an offence relating to O-licences, apart from indicating on the defect check that there is/is not an O-licence disc present, assuming defect checks are being done and the driver has had a least a splash of training in what is required, but that should have cropped up during their initial training to get their licence.
Here’s the full list of O-licence exemptions, nothing specifically relating to road repair/building.
EDIT: Doh! forgot to include the link
Dbro, what are you doing on the other days of the week?
I’ll be in a digger which is my main job