ChatterBank3 mins ago
Steph & Lorry Drivers
I have just been watching Steph's report on Breakfast, "Why is there a shortage of lorry drivers" would you work 15hr days, abusive customers, Police, Ministry of transport, starting work at 2 am & finishing 6pm daily ( Legal) Traffic, Diversions only for HGVs, getting your HGV Broken into while you sleep, money that is rubbish no matter what you have heard, the rules and regulations you would not believe it, on a break of 45 mins, if you set off a min before your 45 could end up costing you Hundreds of pounds, I came out of this rat race a few years ago because of company's pushing you, phone call, where are you, how long will it take you to get there, are you there yet, what time will you get tipped, how many in front of you, re you off loaded yet, what time will you get to the next customer, that is only a part of it, Violin, not really, trying to do your job to pay your bills more like, all for a pittance, the person getting interviewed stated £20 an hour, in some cases that was a lie, more like £8 per hour in your lucky, would you put up with this crp?
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Fifteen hour days are only legal in restricted circumstances.
In any period of 24 hours a driver may not drive for more than 9 hours (extended to 10 hours twice a week). The breaks he must take are regulated and so “Other Work” (apart from driving) is effectively also regulated. In a straightforward 24 hour period he must adhere to the following:
A “working day” of no more than 13 hours. This must include no more than 9 hours driving and 4 hours breaks and other work. If he drives for 10 hours, which he may do twice a week, his “other work” is reduced by an hour. He must have 11 hours as an uninterrupted rest period.
He may choose to split his rest period. If so, he must take three hours as a minimum for the first break and nine hours for the second. Again, he may drive for no more than nine hours (or ten twice a week). The only way he can do a fifteen hour day is to adopt this pattern and do (say) eight hours of driving/breaks/other work. Then he must have a three hour break followed by 4 hours of driving/breaks/other work followed by nine hours rest.
A third alternative is for him to reduce his daily rest period to nine hours, which he can do three times in a week. Then he works for fifteen hours consisting of driving/breaks/other work followed by nine hours rest.
The impression you give is that drivers regularly and consistently work for fifteen hours a day and quite simply they cannot.
In any period of 24 hours a driver may not drive for more than 9 hours (extended to 10 hours twice a week). The breaks he must take are regulated and so “Other Work” (apart from driving) is effectively also regulated. In a straightforward 24 hour period he must adhere to the following:
A “working day” of no more than 13 hours. This must include no more than 9 hours driving and 4 hours breaks and other work. If he drives for 10 hours, which he may do twice a week, his “other work” is reduced by an hour. He must have 11 hours as an uninterrupted rest period.
He may choose to split his rest period. If so, he must take three hours as a minimum for the first break and nine hours for the second. Again, he may drive for no more than nine hours (or ten twice a week). The only way he can do a fifteen hour day is to adopt this pattern and do (say) eight hours of driving/breaks/other work. Then he must have a three hour break followed by 4 hours of driving/breaks/other work followed by nine hours rest.
A third alternative is for him to reduce his daily rest period to nine hours, which he can do three times in a week. Then he works for fifteen hours consisting of driving/breaks/other work followed by nine hours rest.
The impression you give is that drivers regularly and consistently work for fifteen hours a day and quite simply they cannot.
Cribbed from the rules under "unforeseen events". The last paragraph is particularly relevant:
Provided that road safety is not jeopardised, and to enable a driver to reach a suitable stopping place, a departure from the EU rules may be permitted to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, the vehicle or its load. Drivers must note all the reasons for doing so on the back of their tachograph record sheets (if using an analogue tachograph) or on a printout or temporary sheet (if using a digital tachograph) at the latest on reaching the suitable stopping place (see relevant sections covering manual entries). Repeated and regular occurrences, however, might indicate to enforcement officers that employers were not in fact scheduling work to enable compliance with the applicable rules.
A judgment by the European Court of Justice dated 9 November 1995 provides a useful guide to how this provision should be interpreted. It can apply only in cases where it unexpectedly becomes impossible to comply with the rules on drivers’ hours during the course of a journey. In other words, planned breaches of the rules are not allowed. This means that when an unforeseen event occurs, it would be for the driver to decide whether it was necessary to depart from the rules. In doing so, a driver would have to take into account the need to ensure road safety in the process (eg when driving a vehicle carrying an abnormal load under the Special Types regulations) and any instruction that may be given by an enforcement officer (eg when under police escort).
Some examples of such events are delays caused by severe weather, road traffic accidents, mechanical breakdowns, interruptions of ferry services and any event that causes or is likely to cause danger to the life or health of people or animals. Note that this concession only allows for drivers to reach a suitable stopping place, not necessarily to complete their planned journey. Drivers and operators would be expected to reschedule any disrupted work to remain in compliance with the EU rules.
Provided that road safety is not jeopardised, and to enable a driver to reach a suitable stopping place, a departure from the EU rules may be permitted to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, the vehicle or its load. Drivers must note all the reasons for doing so on the back of their tachograph record sheets (if using an analogue tachograph) or on a printout or temporary sheet (if using a digital tachograph) at the latest on reaching the suitable stopping place (see relevant sections covering manual entries). Repeated and regular occurrences, however, might indicate to enforcement officers that employers were not in fact scheduling work to enable compliance with the applicable rules.
A judgment by the European Court of Justice dated 9 November 1995 provides a useful guide to how this provision should be interpreted. It can apply only in cases where it unexpectedly becomes impossible to comply with the rules on drivers’ hours during the course of a journey. In other words, planned breaches of the rules are not allowed. This means that when an unforeseen event occurs, it would be for the driver to decide whether it was necessary to depart from the rules. In doing so, a driver would have to take into account the need to ensure road safety in the process (eg when driving a vehicle carrying an abnormal load under the Special Types regulations) and any instruction that may be given by an enforcement officer (eg when under police escort).
Some examples of such events are delays caused by severe weather, road traffic accidents, mechanical breakdowns, interruptions of ferry services and any event that causes or is likely to cause danger to the life or health of people or animals. Note that this concession only allows for drivers to reach a suitable stopping place, not necessarily to complete their planned journey. Drivers and operators would be expected to reschedule any disrupted work to remain in compliance with the EU rules.
When our daughter was young we used to put all her presents under the tree and she knew that if she could guess the contents she could open a package. No tearing etc allowed, so we used to wrap things in greatly oversize boxes or include such things as a budgie's bell as a decoy which tinkled when she moved the package about but had nothing to do with the contents. Hours of fun.
Our son is a HGV driver who works for one of the large supermarkets and he gets more than double the £8 per hour. He does three drops per night and comes home when he has finished. He started at 8pm last night and was home just after 2am but he still gets paid for a full shift. At the depot when he loads up there are rows of microwaves for the drivers to use and a selection of ready meals from the supermarket if anyone wants one. There are also large quantities of fruit they can take if they want. There are some good jobs out there and some good employers.
BD, some company's threat's to drivers, YOU WILL take that Truck out or you can finish, tell the customer you've had a breakdown ( Regular used) It's happened to myself earlier in my driving days, "Did not work with me" I was told by a yard Forman at ICI many years ago to take a four legged Stillage out when the foot of one was missing, I refused on safety, that was until higher management got involved, the crp they tried with you at times, your son will more than likely tell you, & all that to earn a living.
I find it strange that people think there is not a cat in hells chance of automated vehicles on our roads.
Any major motor manufacturer who is not heavily engaged in developing self-drive vehicles is destined to become bankrupt – or relegated to a parts supplier to those making autonomous vehicles.
Why as company would you buy an HVG where they had to employ drivers – when you can buy an HGV that can operate 24/7 without the cost of drivers.
Although it probably won’t happen in my lifetime – before the end of this century it is almost certain that humans will be banned from driving motor vehicles on public roads. With around 5 deaths per day (and every day) plus many more injuries on the UK’s roads alone; humans clearly cannot be allowed to continue this carnage, when the death rate from automated vehicles will be lower by many orders of magnitude.
I confidently predict that by the start of the next century, it will be a major news story when a single person dies in a road traffic accident.
Any major motor manufacturer who is not heavily engaged in developing self-drive vehicles is destined to become bankrupt – or relegated to a parts supplier to those making autonomous vehicles.
Why as company would you buy an HVG where they had to employ drivers – when you can buy an HGV that can operate 24/7 without the cost of drivers.
Although it probably won’t happen in my lifetime – before the end of this century it is almost certain that humans will be banned from driving motor vehicles on public roads. With around 5 deaths per day (and every day) plus many more injuries on the UK’s roads alone; humans clearly cannot be allowed to continue this carnage, when the death rate from automated vehicles will be lower by many orders of magnitude.
I confidently predict that by the start of the next century, it will be a major news story when a single person dies in a road traffic accident.
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