sorry to bring this up.
probably been asked before , but…
is the 6 hr rule still aplicable to hgv drivers.
as i do local work, i frequently only do 4 to 5 hrs driving a day.
now ive always taken a break(45 mins +) at, or before 6 hours WORKING time to ensure i stay legal on wtd and driving hours.
and they take 45m of our pay daily too.
most days my working hours are at least 9, so its a 45 min for the wtd too.
my TM is giving me grief over taking a break before my 4.5 hrs driving .
ive told him basicaly that the break is at the drivers discreation, not his.
and i,m taking a break at 6 hrs cos i need one.
can anyone clarify this situation please?
inaneredstripe:
sorry to bring this up.
probably been asked before , but…
is the 6 hr rule still aplicable to hgv drivers.
as i do local work, i frequently only do 4 to 5 hrs driving a day.
now ive always taken a break(45 mins +) at, or before 6 hours WORKING time to ensure i stay legal on wtd and driving hours.
and they take 45m of our pay daily too.
most days my working hours are at least 9, so its a 45 min for the wtd too.
my TM is giving me grief over taking a break before my 4.5 hrs driving .
ive told him basicaly that the break is at the drivers discreation, not his.
and i,m taking a break at 6 hrs cos i need one.
can anyone clarify this situation please?
I cannot fault you but this is an area of expertise which I only have partial knowledge of.
coffeeholic or tachograph or geebee45 are the best members to answer this 
Your basically spot on mate.
WTD break of 30 mins or more required at or before 6 hrs work
WTD break of 15 mins or more required after 9 hrs work
EU driving hours break of 45 mins or more required after 4.5hrs driving, can be split with second break totalling 30 mins or more.
Don’t forget though that if you take a break of say 50 mins at 4hrs to cover your WTD and driving hours, 6 hrs on from this, if you haven’t done another 4.5 hrs driving then you will need to take another 30 min WTD rest break.
Breaks from driving and/or WTD are taken at drivers discretion, and the driver MUST BE ABLE TO FREELY DISPOSE OF HIS TIME.
Just Google WTD and Drivers hours to get the relevant websites up. Hope this helps.
ta guys.
i want to stay legal.
and its getting harder by the day.
my TM is now telling me that the 6 hr wtd doesnt apply to transport workers.
what a crock of whatsit.
and ive had one tacho discrep for going 10 mins over the second six.
and yes ,english trucker, i thought that was the situation after a second six hours.
i occasionaly do a “hub run” (1 hr 40 ish driving and a 3hr round trip) at the end of my normal shift.often taking me to 14 hrs +
so i do take a second break of 30 mins if tis needed.
and he doesnt like that either.
is it about time i got out of hgv driving, i sometimes wonder?
again.
thanks for the clarification.
mark.
one thing to say on this subject…the wtd wants the boot
EnglishTrucker:
Your basically spot on mate.WTD break of 30 mins or more required at or before 6 hrs work
WTD break of 15 mins or more required after 9 hrs work
.
WTD break of 15 mins or more required at or before 6 hrs work 
-mobile workers must not work more than 6 consecutive hours without taking a break
-If your working hours total between 6 and 9 hours , working time should be interrupted by a break or breaks totalling at least 30 minutes.
-If your working hours total more than 9 hours , working time should be interrupted by a break or breaks totalling at leat 45 minutes.
-Breaks should be of at least 15 minutes duration.
-EU Drivers Rules always take priority.
-Breaks that are taken at either the beginning or the end of the working day are not counted as breaks from Working time.
Thats the memo i got 
now how many white van men stick by these then 
The WTD regulations require you to take a break of at least 15 minutes before working more than 6 hours.
As you’re doing over 9 hours on most days you need to have at least 45 minutes total break/breaks that interrupt the shift, the shortest break that will ccount for the WTD is 15 minutes so you can if you wish split the WTD break into segments of at least 15 minutes.
as clumbo would say one more thing this thing about being to be free to do what you want, impossible you can not have a pint make love to wife go to pic,s bingo ect ect what a silly piece set of rules poa dont make me laugh
EnglishTrucker:
Breaks from driving and/or WTD are taken at drivers discretion, and the driver MUST BE ABLE TO FREELY DISPOSE OF HIS TIME
As ROG said the minimum break for the 6 hour rule is 15 minutes.
Also you do not need to be able to freely dispose of your time, a break is time that a driver should be able to use for recuperation but there’s no requirement to be able to freely dispose of you time as there is with a daily or weekly rest period.
ROG:
EnglishTrucker:
Your basically spot on mate.WTD break of 30 mins or more required at or before 6 hrs work
WTD break of 15 mins or more required after 9 hrs work
.WTD break of 15 mins or more required at or before 6 hrs work
You have lost me ROG■■? Yes you can take a 15 min break and then another 15 at the 6hr point. I was trying to keep the reply basic and short… 
inaneredstripe:
my TM is now telling me that the 6 hr wtd doesnt apply to transport workers.
what a crock of whatsit…
Invite him to come here and talk to coffeeholic or tachograph or geebee45 - he might learn summat
tachograph:
The WTD regulations require you to take a break of at least 15 minutes before working more than 6 hours.
As you’re doing over 9 hours on most days you need to have at least 45 minutes total break/breaks that interrupt the shift, the shortest break that will ccount for the WTD is 15 minutes so you can if you wish split the WTD break into segments of at least 15 minutes.
See my reply ref 15mins.
inaneredstripe:
my TM is now telling me that the 6 hr wtd doesnt apply to transport workers.
what a crock of whatsit…
There’s a clue in the title of this regulation if he looks closely enough
Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 639 -The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005
He may also wish to click the link above and do some reading
Breaks
- (1) No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break.
(2) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds six hours but does not exceed nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 30 minutes and interrupting that time.
(3) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 45 minutes and interrupting that period.
(4) Each break may be made up of separate periods of not less than 15 minutes each…
(5) An employer shall take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of the mobile worker, to ensure that the limits specified above are complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him.
The rules say no mobile worker must work MORE than 6hrs without a break. It then says if a mobile worker works more than 6 hrs but less than 9 hrs then a 30 min break is required.
So before 6 hrs NO break is required. After 6 hrs and before 9 hrs a 30 min break is required. Is this the case? 
EnglishTrucker:
tachograph:
The WTD regulations require you to take a break of at least 15 minutes before working more than 6 hours.
As you’re doing over 9 hours on most days you need to have at least 45 minutes total break/breaks that interrupt the shift, the shortest break that will ccount for the WTD is 15 minutes so you can if you wish split the WTD break into segments of at least 15 minutes.See my reply ref 15mins.
If you work between 6 and 9 hours you should have a total of at least 30 minutes break/breaks interupting the shift.
No worker should work over 6 hours before having a break of at least 15 minutes, there’s no requirement to have a 30 minute break/breaks at 6 hours.
Example:
Start work at 06:00, take a break of 15 minutes at 12:00 until 12:15, you could now legally work until 18:15 before needing to have another 15 minute break.
In this example you would need to have a total of 45 minutes break as the total shift would be over 9 hours.
Obviously this doesn’t take into consideration driving breaks.
Don’t forget though that if you take a break of say 50 mins at 4hrs to cover your WTD and driving hours, 6 hrs on from this, if you haven’t done another 4.5 hrs driving then you will need to take another 30 min WTD rest break.
We were told that the 6 hour rule was for the First six hours not every six.
This was to ensure that the lads doing a lot of drops and not big mileage got a break as they did not accumulate 4.5 hrs driving time.
tachograph:
Example:
Start work at 06:00, take a break of 15 minutes at 12:00 until 12:15, you could now legally work until 18:15 before needing to have another 15 minute break.
In this example you would need to have a total of 45 minutes break as the total shift would be over 9 hours.Obviously this doesn’t take into consideration driving breaks.
Using the above example, if 2.5 hours driving was done between 0600 & 1215 then that is legal for WTD & tacho regs so far.
If 2 more hours driving is done from 1215 to say, 1515, then a 30 min break would be needed for the tacho but would also make up the 45 required for the WTD.
Did I say that right tachograph 
EnglishTrucker:
The rules say no mobile worker must work MORE than 6hrs without a break. It then says if a mobile worker works more than 6 hrs but less than 9 hrs then a 30 min break is required.So before 6 hrs NO break is required. After 6 hrs and before 9 hrs a 30 min break is required. Is this the case?
The 30 minute break can be split into segments of at least 15 minutes, so you would legally only need to have a 15 minute break at or before the 6 hours, you would then need to have another 15 minute break ending before the 9 hours are completed if the shift is 9 hours.
There’s no regulation that states that a 30 minute break should be taken at or before 6 hours, in fact the regulations don’t stipulate a length of break for the 6 hour rule so it’s assumed that the minimum is acceptable, the minimum break being 15 minutes
Working time directive 2005:
Breaks
7. - (1) No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break.(2) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds six hours but does not exceed nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 30 minutes and interrupting that time.
(3) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 45 minutes and interrupting that period.
(4) Each break may be made up of separate periods of not less than 15 minutes each…
And from your own link:
- Breaks:
— Mobile workers must not work more than 6 consecutive hours without taking a break.
— If your working hours total between 6 and 9 hours, working time should be interrupted by
a break or breaks totalling at least 30 minutes.
— If your working hours total more than 9 hours, working time should be interrupted by a break
or breaks totalling at least 45 minutes.
— Breaks should be of at least 15 minutes’ duration.