Tachograph Driving UK

Showing posts tagged drivers hours

Working Time Directive

Working Time Directive: The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations (SI 2005 No. 639), came into force on 4 April 2005. The Regulations implement European Directive 2002/15/EC and apply to “mobile workers” (basically drivers, crew and other travelling staff) who operate on commercial vehicles which are subject to Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 (“the European drivers’ hours rules”) or, in some cases, the AETR.

Mobile workers are required to comply with the Regulations as well as the existing European drivers’ hours’ rules. There is no opt-out from the Regulations.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drivers’ working hours is the commonly used term for regulations that govern the activities of the drivers of commercial goods vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles.

Within the European Union, EU Regulation 561/2006 is the current regulation concerning the driving times, breaks and rest periods required to be taken by drivers of goods or passenger vehicles who drive in the EU. In certain circumstances, drivers may be exempt from EU Regulation 561/2006 throughout the EU, or there may be a derogation for the driver on a national journey within a particular country.

If the vehicle has passed through an AETR signatory country during the course of its journey then it will fall within scope of AETR rules for the whole of that journey.

Since September 2010, AETR rules have been amended to align closely with EU Regulation 561/2006.

Under certain circumstances, drivers may instead fall within scope of the domestic rules of that country.

In addition to the above requirements, drivers in the EU must also abide with the European Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC.

Advice and Solutions

Below is a brief summary of products available and their specific Working Time Directive applications: » read about the Working Time Directive (UK)

Weekly Report book WTD – for the full or part time driver to record his hours. Includes guidance notes on the WTD.
Chart Analysis book – Use in the office to record and then calculate the average hours.
Drivers Envelopes – Recently updated for WTD hours recording.
Chart Checker – a simple device to quickly calculate working hours and breaks from the tachograph chart.
WTD CD – A full guide to the WTD including spread sheets allowing rolling inputs to calculate each drivers working time, over each reference period.
Details of the WTD (mobile workers) can be found here.

Posted 9 months ago

Tags: WTD Working Time Directive, Drivers Hours, European Transport Regulations, Commercial Vehicles, mobile workers,

Fined £8,700 for Falsifying Mileage

A County Armagh haulage company has been fined £8,700 for falsifying mileage and the amount of hours worked by its drivers.

The charges related to a targeted investigation into the operation of 12 vehicles by Landmark Haulage Limited, Derrycarne Road, Portadown.

Disqualification orders were also made against the company’s two directors.

Mark and Lorraine Somerville are banned from holding a company directorship for 11 years.

… sounds very severe and a lesson to all operators!

(Source: BBC)

Posted 9 months ago

Tags: false mileage, drivers hours, rules and regulations, vosa, transport,

Prison for drivers who falsify their driving hours

News 08/08/2012 (via Fuel Card News)

Drivers who are caught falsifying their driving records should be given jail sentences, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA).

The amount of hours a haulage driver can legally be behind the wheel is governed by EU regulations which set daily, weekly and fortnightly limits for the safety of the drivers and other road users.

RHA fears the practice of falsifying records is becoming more common putting lives at risk and undermining the livelihoods of law abiding drivers.

Geoff Dunning, RHA Chief Executive, says: “Falsifying driving records is planned in advance and is one of the most serious offences in road haulage.

“Deterrence is not nearly strong enough in practice and that is why we are calling for mandatory custodial sentencing and tough, visible enforcement.“

The Department for Transport’s executive agency, VOSA, is the primary enforcement body, but RHA believes it’s inadequately directed and resourced.

“Others need to be involved,” continued Dunning, “including the police to support VOSA, and the Magistrates Association, along with the equivalent bodies in the devolved regions.”

Posted 9 months ago

Tags: drivers hours, working time directive, eu regulations, vosa, department of transport, road haulage association, DOT,

Lorry drivers endangering lives by spending too much time behind the wheel

08 Aug 2012 (source Suffolk News)

NEARLY 500 lorry drivers travelling through Suffolk have been stopped and fined for tachograph offenses in the past two years. Truckers have been dealt with 698 fines for tachograph offences.

The digital tachograph units, fitted in the cab of all HGVs, monitor and record the number of hours driven, the times and lengths of drivers’ breaks from the wheel and vehicle speeds. It is these daily records that can be checked by the road authorities and bodies.

1000’s of trucks and commercial lorries use the county’s roads every day – including more than 4,500 travelling to and from the Port of Felixstowe, the country’s top container terminal.

Recently the Suffolk Police altered the way they deal with tachograph and driving offences. They decided to issue fixed penalty notices rather than reporting offenders for summons and submitting a prosecution file culminating in a court appearance.

The rules currently say that drivers are allowed to drive for nine hours a day, and ten hours twice a week, and must take a 45 minute rest breaks between each 4.5-hour period. The maximum weekly driving time is 56 hours.

You can download a handy drivers handbook here, that covers essential and legal driving requirements such as driver’s hours, WTD, health & safety, securing loads, tachograph use, driver CPC and much more. And don’t forget your accident report forms.