I have a couple of questions regarding, i suppose, WTD and drivers hours. I have recently returned to the UK having lived abroad for the last 12 years, i passed both HGV tests approx 18 months ago. Before i left the UK i worked as a carpenter/joiner. I am now thinking to set up as a self employed carpenter but also registering with a couple of driver agencies, with the idea of hopefully being able to get a couple of days driving a week. Question is,for instance, say i,ve worked 4 days of the week for myself, amounting to say 40 hours, how many hours would i be allowed to drive HGV, and how would anyone know the hours that i,d already worked ? If you see what i mean !! I have had a look at information on Drivers Hours Law but cant seem to find anything that really answers my questions.
Hoping someone can help.
Im self employed myself and do the hgv work as a second job ,
I keep a diary of hours worked via printed out sheets from the vosa rules and regs it has an example of a log sheet in its pages ,
so say I work mon tues wed thurs fri self employed and do sat hgv ,
eg mon to fri log on sheet other work and times eg mon 9-5 etc
then on sat log on sheet my driving hgv and hours , so sun is day off so get 24 hrs rest before starting next week
As have had a reduced rest prev week I will need 45hrs rest the following week so if work mon to fri will need sat and sun off so no driving hgv
This can change with me so can mabe do mon tues self employed job then get a call can I go in wed ? so if so will log on sheet mon tues other work on sheet then the hgv hours on wed , back to self employed job thurs fri ,
basically I make sure that all my hours I do I always have the right amount of rest to do hgv
So you always need 11 hours rest before going out (can be 9 hrs occasionaly) and you always keep to 45hrs rest at weekend or 24 hrs every other week
by the way this does not have to be at weekend if you have no work for a couple of days then your 2 weeks starts again from scratch as you have had 45 hrs rest
Hope this hasn`t confused you , if you need I will try and copy a couple of my weeks where hgv driving done and either pm them to you or post on here
Well they cant , but rely on you to be truthful , an wouldn’t recommend driving tired not a good mix hgv and tiredness !
but as long as your records show you to be legal vosa should be satisfied that you are telling the truth , if you keep the logs as Ive suggested it shows your not trying to con them as your making the effort to log all your work
Hi and thanks for the info, answered my questions perfect, seems like there are a couple of ways to look at this, as Jennie says the correct and legal way, or as animals topic suggests an area that is slightly grey !
I,ll obviously be using the correct option
I have had a look at information on Drivers Hours Law but cant seem to find anything that really answers my questions.
