What effect does the WTD have?
Does it mean you cannot work over 48 hours a week?
I realise you can only drive for 45 hours a week but surely with loading and waiting around it’s easy to do over 48 hrs. 
I thought you could sign a waiver (as i have done in the past when working silly hours).
Sorry I have nothing better to worry about as I am waiting for my provisional to come through!!
Yes you can sign an opt out form.
You can only drive Over 7.5 tonners for up to 45 hours, driving anything 7.5 and below doesnt come into that 
Rich;
Strictly speaking the WTD does not apply much to the Haulage industry, but pretty much applies to everybody else. If my memory is still working, WTD was introduced around 1998 and limited the working week to 48 hours. You can opt out of this limit.
The RTD (Road Transport Directive) came into being in April this year and applies to those who drive vehicles with a permitted gross weight greater than 3 500kg and come under the control of EC regulation 3820/85, basically tacho rules. There is quite a list of those driving vehicles > 3 500kg that are exempt 3820 (get a copy of GV262 from your local VOSA office, or check-out their website; http://www.vosa.gov.uk. If you fall into the exempt list from 3820 then you are exempt RTD but come into RTD, who said this was easy!! There is no opt out from RTD limits other than the night time working limit. The 45 hour limit is actually 48 hours and this comprises of driving and working, but it is only a weekly average over a reference period (usually 17 weeks, but can be up to 26 weeks). You can work a maximum of 60 hours per week. Breaks, rest and Periods of Availability (a period, the duration of which is known before it starts, where the driver, may leave his workstation, but is available to return and resume work when required) Statutory annual holiday and sick leave count towards the weekly limit.
Under EC rules there is no weekly limit to driving vehicles over 3 500kg. However there is a fortnightly limit of 90 hours. As you can drive for up to six periods before requiring a weekly rest period, you could drive at least 56 hours legally in week one. However, in week 2 you could only drive 46 hours.
in addition to GeeBee’s post, I would like to say the following:
A way of thinking about it is to seperate ‘attendance’ and ‘working time’.
For example;
09.00 arrive at work and swipe in; 30 minutes taken to do vehicle checks and paperwork. Insert Tacho on Cross Hammers (Driving and other work).
09.30 go into the office and be told ‘be at least 30 minutes’. Return to truck and select Crossed Box mode for POA
10.00 get work, return tacho to cross-hammers. Get the trailer and get on the road. An accident slows you down.
14.00 Decide you will stop at the approaching services as you won’t pass another one before the 4.5 hours limit. Stop, and select ‘Bed’.
14.45 Select Cross hammers again and set on the way.
15.30 arrive at the destination. You don’t know how long you will be, so leave it on cross-hammers.
16.30 You’re tipped and ready to go, get on the road without changing modes.
20.00 You’ve had a clear run (told you this is hypothetical), and back at the yard. The office tell you thats it for the day, drop the trailer on any bay and diesel up. You use about 5 minutes maximum driving time to do this. Keep it on cross-hammers as you are still working. Pull the tacho and fill in the details.
20.30 Clock out.
As you can see, you ATTENDED (paid) 11 and a half hours. For working time though, you subtract the 45 mins lunch break, and the 30 mins POA. To cloud the issue though, 30 mins are added to the start and end of each shift for paperwork etc.
Hope this helps
Rich:
What effect does the WTD have?Does it mean you cannot work over 48 hours a week?
I realise you can only drive for 45 hours a week but surely with loading and waiting around it’s easy to do over 48 hrs.
I thought you could sign a waiver (as i have done in the past when working silly hours).
Sorry I have nothing better to worry about as I am waiting for my provisional to come through!!
UMMM …56hrs max driving in one week not 45 and a rolling two week total must not exceed 90 hrs
geebee45:
Under EC rules there is no weekly limit to driving vehicles over 3 500kg. However there is a fortnightly limit of 90 hours. As you can drive for up to six periods before requiring a weekly rest period, you could drive at least 56 hours legally in week one. However, in week 2 you could only drive 46 hours.
56+46=102 hope your drivings better than your math 
dennisw1:
Yes you can sign an opt out form.
No, you can’t!!! 
You can only drive Over 7.5 tonners for up to 45 hours, driving anything 7.5 and below doesnt come into that
I’m afraid that’s not true either…you can drive a vehicle with a tacho for up to 56 hours in a week (9 x 4 days plus 10 x 2 days), but as has already been said, you can then only drive for 34 hours the following week to keep within the 90 hour fortnightly maximum.
Vehicles below 7.5 t come under domestic rules and may only be driven for 10 hours a day for up to 13 days in a row.
If you have some time to play with, have a look at the TNUK Guide to the WTD - it was written when the draft regulations came out, but any changes after that were only in the minor wording, so it’s still accurate. You can find it by CLICKING HERE.
Welcome, by the way! 
dennisw1 wrote:
Yes you can sign an opt out form.No, you can’t!!!
Did they change that then? I know you used to be able to opt out of the 48 hour week. obviously anything you did over that would be other work though.
For drivers covered under the RTD there has never been an opt-out. The only bit that can be ignored by agreement is the 10 hour nights, but even then the average 48 hours still applies.
If you’ve been told otherwise and signed to opt-out, I’d have a word with your boss and a count up if I were you…
Anything over 48 hours work (so don’t count break or POAs) counts as work just like the first 48, so if you go over on a regular basis you may well find yourself illegal.
Non-RTD staff can still opt-out, but as soon as you drive anything wih a tacho you are limited to 48 averaged over the appropriate number of weeks, end of story.
CBR_SI:
To cloud the issue though, 30 mins are added to the start and end of each shift for paperwork etc.Hope this helps
Clarify please!!■■
Non-RTD staff can still opt-out
That’ll be it then, the opt out i’ve been told about was always relating to a Sprinter or non-driving job.
So if i did say one day in a tacho vehicle and the rest of the week in a sprinter then technically i’m limited to 48 hours?
gardun:
CBR_SI:
To cloud the issue though, 30 mins are added to the start and end of each shift for paperwork etc.Hope this helps
Clarify please!!■■
I think that is an administrative issue that has been adopted by many companies to cover ancilliary paperwork at the commencement and ending of shift. It does not appear in the Regulations.
dennisw1:
Non-RTD staff can still opt-out
That’ll be it then, the opt out i’ve been told about was always relating to a Sprinter or non-driving job.
So if i did say one day in a tacho vehicle and the rest of the week in a sprinter then technically i’m limited to 48 hours?
It depends how many days you do work covered by the WTD in any current ‘reference period’. If the Operator has retained the 17 week period, then you can work no more than 11 days before becoming subject to the WTD. 15 days for an Operator having opted for the 26 week period. - Numbers have come out of my head but you can check them on Lucy’s guide.
The WTD is not calculated on a weekly basis. It is based on an ‘averaging’ over any ‘Reference Period’.
Krankee:
The WTD is not calculated on a weekly basis. It is based on an ‘averaging’ over any ‘Reference Period’.
Which is what makes it so pointless to begin with. I seem to be one of the few on here that resent the WTD and do all I can to get around it or exploit its loopholes to the full so I can maintain what I deem to be my civil right and work when I want to, I’m not breaking tacho regs so what right does the EU parliment have to impose a pathetic driving ban on me after 15 and a half weeks. Its not like I’ll be working less time in a meaningful way, ie shorter days or weeks, I’ll still be doing the same, which is fine by me, but now, if I work for a company that bothers with it, I’ll have to take UNPAID time off at the end of the reference period and that to me makes no sense. Plus I have grievences with the whole complicated nature of recording the ■■■■ thing with excessive mode switches which by its nature is prone to distaster as it is so simple to lose track of something in a hurry to do something that is actually important to your jobm unlike fannying about with your tacho every ten minutes just because someone has told you that they don’t know how long you’ll be, like it actually makes a blooming difference anyway.
dennisw1:
Non-RTD staff can still opt-out
That’ll be it then, the opt out i’ve been told about was always relating to a Sprinter or non-driving job.
So if i did say one day in a tacho vehicle and the rest of the week in a sprinter then technically i’m limited to 48 hours?
What Krankee has told you is right…but remember that one day in vehicle with a tacho ALSO puts you under EU Drivers Hours rules for all of that week, so you then need to have your breaks and weekly rest as if you were in a wagon.