Would You Let The Boss Know

[lee_g]

i have had a weekend away in teh wagon this weekend and had a good weekend, the main reason is £20 night out money for two nights and the added bonus i can park at my mums (private estate with no through road and most neighbours ok) and not have to spend the money.

now then… friday night not a problem, i parked there with the fridge running to chill the load to about -2 so i could turn the fridge off over night and it would still be quite cool in the morning ( it was small plastic bottled drinks and was at +8 in the morning) whacked it onto -10 in the mornig for an hour going to the job and it was at about +2 when the load was needed.

left mums at 0700 did the job in hand and returned at about 1930. parked the lorry on the road outside my mums, on a normal road with about 30ft either end of the wagon before any cars parked on the other side of the road, by the way it was raining heavily

just about to go to bed at about 10ish (setting off home at 0400) and theres a knock at the door. its PC plod from the local station saying

Plod-is that your wagon?
me-yes it is, is there a problem? (spoken politer than it sounds, theres no point being bolshy with them is there?)
plod-we have had numerous complaints about it do you mind moving it?
me-no not a problem but i parked it there because of all the fuel thefts and things like that?
plod-i understand that but it still needs moving sir, you wouldnt get a fire engine past it, do you mind?
me-no sure i’ll grab the keys but i am on my 9 hour break, can you sign the back of a tacho for me while i move it round the corner?
plod-sure, or you can just park it round the corner and not put one in, its your call?
me-if your sure mate? (it is literally 400 metres but out of sight from the house)
plod- yeah its ok.
me- sorry mate, i’ll move it now
plod- it should be lit up as well but i’m not worried about that, its not a through route is it?
me- it was but sometimes the battery guard kicks in and no there isnt a through route
plod-ok dont worry about it, cheers for moving it, see you later

and plod drove off back to his coffee at the station

now, would you tell your boss just in case something comes of it or would you wait and see if anything lands on his desk?

im thinking of telling him but what about the dosh? will he think i have basically been a bit fraudulant or would they just let it ride as the choice is ours where we park and the £20 is ours, we dont need receipts or anything?

the bosses seem pretty chilled out but i have only been there for about 4 weekends?

would you tell them?

[shade]

dont want to worry you , all tm’s are different , but only last week one of our drivers got the bullet for parking at home claiming for a night out and running in the next day,

[mr_vain]

Tough call. I find it very doubtful that yr employer will hear anything. Afterall, you did as you were asked. Maybe you should come clean thou, get caught out telling porkies and you may never win the trust back.

[lee_g]

in reality i havent “claimed” for a night out, i was given £40 for the two nights and asked when i got the money
“what do i do with the money left over? do you want the receipts and left over money in an envelope in the pigeon hole?”

“no the money is yours, its up to you what you use it for!”

so in reality i havent claimed it, it was given to me.

plus i havent seen anyone from the office yet so i havent had the chance to hand it back (office is shut on sundays) got keys for the yard and office.

im just seeing what everyone else would do.

is the TM liable to get a letter or phone call about it?

[krankee]

From the way you have explained it, I can’t see the matter going any further.

However, I’d argue that ‘night out money’ is a compensation for being away from home. Not a requirement to sleep in the cab.

The fact that you were able to access a comfortable bed and decent food does not detract from the payment of the allowance.

[bikemonkey]

If you’re up in Preston Gibsla and your base is in Portsmouth or wherever it is,you are entitled to Night out money whether youstay at your mums or not,it makes NO difference.
Fair enough if your BASE is within reach from your mums house and you claim a night out then maybe it might be a bit dodgy,but you were’nt were you.
Any Driver that is away from base is entitled to N/O money + EXPENSES parking etc,so I would’nt mention it,you may want to mention the plod moving you on in case the trace on the tacho says that there was a movement during your Daily rest,but as far as anything else I dont see a reason why you need mention anything.
You’re too honest by the sounds of it and thats half my problem as well,I’ve lost many hours sleep worrying about little things.

[lee_g]

Krankee:
From the way you have explained it, I can’t see the matter going any further.

However, I’d argue that ‘night out money’ is a compensation for being away from home. Not a requirement to sleep in the cab.

The fact that you were able to access a comfortable bed and decent food does not detract from the payment of the allowance.

that was my view the way they worded it. if the lads do a 7,5t overnight they get a hotel (usually travel inn) booked and paid in advance and £20.

i might just leave it at the moment as i havent actually lied about anything, and i wont anyway, if they ask about it they will get told the truth, there is no point lying they just bite you in the ■■■ later on! ( i did learn something as a kid!)

as for the run in the following day it wasnt as if i could have made it back that night, its nearly 300 miles

[lee_g]

bikemonkey:
If you’re up in Preston Gibsla and your base is in Portsmouth or wherever it is,you are entitled to Night out money whether youstay at your mums or not,it makes NO difference.
Fair enough if your BASE is within reach from your mums house and you claim a night out then maybe it might be a bit dodgy,but you were’nt were you.
Any Driver that is away from base is entitled to N/O money + EXPENSES parking etc,so I would’nt mention it,you may want to mention the plod moving you on in case the trace on the tacho says that there was a movement during your Daily rest,but as far as anything else I dont see a reason why you need mention anything.
You’re too honest by the sounds of it and thats half my problem as well,I’ve lost many hours sleep worrying about little things.

there is no trace as there was no tacho in the head at the time (i was on my 9 hour break) and as he said move it without one in (400 metres) it wasnt worth the ink of writing one out.or have i done wrong here as well?

and yes i guess sometimes i am too honest for my own good. i will worry about this for a few days and then not be able to handle the worry and probably mention it in passing and see where we go from there.

just in case…does anybody want a recently passed HONEST class1 driver for weekend work in teh pompey area?

[rog]

did I miss the bit where you siad you paid £20 to your mum for the B&B

[lee_g]

i think you might have, did i not mention it

[mr_b]

i’d keep quiet. You kept plod happy so he won’t want the hassle of following up a complaint.
As others have said night out money is paid for being away from home not for sleeping in your motor.

[krankee]

Giblsa:
there is no trace as there was no tacho in the head at the time (i was on my 9 hour break) and as he said move it without one in (400 metres) it wasnt worth the ink of writing one out.or have i done wrong here as well?

But there will be a disparity between the end of one chart and the beginning of the next which may get picked up. If it does, then just sign the ‘infringement’ and forget it.

If VOSA pick up on it (and why should they have reason to do so?) then there will be an Incident Log that they can be referred back to, and, the very fact that you have posted the details on here would enable one of us to authenticate the time/date of the explanation.

It wouldn’t be the first time that we have had to supply a statement in relation to Legal proceedings.

[bikemonkey]

Giblsa:
there is no trace as there was no tacho in the head at the time (i was on my 9 hour break) and as he said move it without one in (400 metres) it wasnt worth the ink of writing one out.or have i done wrong here as well?

if you have an analogue tacho the little squiggly lines that go up and down near the centre of the tacho chart each up and down = 10km
so when you pull your card out that line will stop for instance in the middle of the up line
when you put the new chart in the next day that line starts in the position it was left in the night before.
so if there is a movement it will show as the lines start and stop in different places on the chart.
I dont wanna start worrying you for the hell of it and I know im going well off the original topic,but it might be worth just writing on the back of the chart on the day in question to say you were moved on by the police during your daily rest period.

[lee_g]

bikemonkey:

Giblsa:
there is no trace as there was no tacho in the head at the time (i was on my 9 hour break) and as he said move it without one in (400 metres) it wasnt worth the ink of writing one out.or have i done wrong here as well?

if you have an analogue tacho the little squiggly lines that go up and down near the centre of the tacho chart each up and down = 10km
so when you pull your card out that line will stop for instance in the middle of the up line
when you put the new chart in the next day that line starts in the position it was left in the night before.
so if there is a movement it will show as the lines sart and stop in different places on the chart.
I dont wanna start worrying you for the hell of it and I know im going well off the original topic,but it might be worth just writing on the back of the chart on the day in question to say you were moved on by the police during your daily rest period.

how much is one of the squiggly lines (is it 10km or is it 5)

[bikemonkey]

Giblsa:
how much is one of the squiggly lines (is it 10km or is it 5)

up is 5km and down is 5km.

[lee_g]

so 400 metres would show quite a gap really?

[lee_g]

but here in lies another problem,

when i got back at dinner time and opened the head unit i noticed i had put my tacho in upside down to travel back this morning.
it has all my details on it and the mileage but no traces what so ever.

the reason i mention this now is that it would look very dodgy. i swear it was a genuine mistake and when i realised i had done i was nearly punching my own head in. i felt like crying but being a tough hard as nails trucker i didnt!

i have filled in the back using a pen and done it exactly as the journey went, i know the exact times as stopped at warwick for a nap and set my alarm on my phone for exactly 1 hour after i stopped.

i know this looks dodgy and to anybody it would raise a few eyebrows but it was a genuine mistake i cant understand i have made after last nights escapades!

what a k n o b

[krankee]

shade:
dont want to worry you , all tm’s are different , but only last week one of our drivers got the bullet for parking at home claiming for a night out and running in the next day,

Well I couldn’t park at home. But I could park within walking distance of home. Just about. And if I did, it would be because the Co had not tightened the thumbscrews on their suppliers, and I’d run out of hours.

Being able to ‘freely dispose of my time’ the options of sleeping in the cab, or walking home, would be a choice for myself.

Bearing in mind that, as I am the only driver in the household, and with my car parked some miles away, I would not be particularly advantaged by seeking comfortable slumber. Except to exercise my (not so) slender frame.

Obviously, in the quote given, there was a level of deceit, which justified the decision.

[bikemonkey]

I would’nt worry about it at all then,as long as you’ve done manual entries cant see a problem.
chill out,I doubt anything will come of any of this,trust me Im a doctor.

[krankee]

Giblsa:
when i got back at dinner time and opened the head unit i noticed i had put my tacho in upside down to travel back this morning.
it has all my details on it and the mileage but no traces what so ever.

This is now starting to sound ‘iffy’ and contrived.

Nice try. But I smell bovine excrement.