Lorry Drivers - Tachograph Limits

Lorry Drivers - Tachograph Limits

Author
Discussion

markymarkthree

2,236 posts

170 months

Friday 24th November 2017
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Fun Bus said:
R0G said:
Fun Bus said:
And as soon as the driver moves, the tacho switches mode breaking the uninterrupted break the law requires.
If stopped in traffic for 1 minute on break then that is still a break of 1 minute even though it will not count as a driving time break
Yep, could have worded that better. I read it that it was thought it contributed to break.
Well it could be part of an official break if he is sat there long enough ie 15+ mins.

Fun Bus

17,911 posts

217 months

Friday 24th November 2017
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Good point, it could.

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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The rules used to be a break period can be no less than 15 minutes,so if you move the truck ,you start another 15 minute period as the previous times is not counted.The 45 minute break then becomes an hour if you move once.

renorti

727 posts

195 months

Friday 1st December 2017
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If his time is up, even if it moves a couple of meters it will show as driving time.This logs on digi card ,next time police/dvsa do a check {even 28days later!} he will get £300 fine and a 72 hour prohibition{with a green cable through wheels so can,t drive off} and dvsa charge £80 to remove cable!
police and dvsa don,t give a minute to over hours driving and take no excuses, hence some hgv park on hard shoulder as time run out,they take the fine for that as its cheaper and they don,t get driving prohibition on the spot.It's a bit of a mare driving hgv's these days,dvsa and police have an exhaustive list of fines they can throw at drivers.Left the hgv licence go as just to much compliance and hassle to it now.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
You can place the mode switch onto break whenever you like, but that doesn't make it a break.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
renorti said:
If his time is up, even if it moves a couple of meters it will show as driving time.This logs on digi card ,next time police/dvsa do a check {even 28days later!} he will get £300 fine and a 72 hour prohibition{with a green cable through wheels so can,t drive off} and dvsa charge £80 to remove cable!
police and dvsa don,t give a minute to over hours driving and take no excuses, hence some hgv park on hard shoulder as time run out,they take the fine for that as its cheaper and they don,t get driving prohibition on the spot.It's a bit of a mare driving hgv's these days,dvsa and police have an exhaustive list of fines they can throw at drivers.Left the hgv licence go as just to much compliance and hassle to it now.
This isn't really accurate. I would also expect a recent tachograph to be able to switch back to break without recording an interruption. It is only the older 5sec/1min types which will spoil a break for a small movement.

markymarkthree

2,236 posts

170 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
GC8 said:
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
You can place the mode switch onto break whenever you like, but that doesn't make it a break.
It can do if sat in stationary traffic for 15 mins.

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
markymarkthree said:
GC8 said:
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
You can place the mode switch onto break whenever you like, but that doesn't make it a break.
It can do if sat in stationary traffic for 15 mins.
Does that really count as a break?

markymarkthree

2,236 posts

170 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
jmorgan said:
markymarkthree said:
GC8 said:
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
You can place the mode switch onto break whenever you like, but that doesn't make it a break.
It can do if sat in stationary traffic for 15 mins.
Does that really count as a break?
Yes, depending on where you are in the working day with your breaks.
If sat there long enough you could have a 15, 30 or a 45 min break.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
markymarkthree said:
GC8 said:
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
You can place the mode switch onto break whenever you like, but that doesn't make it a break.
It can do if sat in stationary traffic for 15 mins.
The question that ultimately decides this is: can you freely dispose of your time...

grumpy52

5,565 posts

165 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
With the modern tacho they only record driving time while moving .
With the older ones you had to be stationary for a whole minute for it to switch modes .
It's no wonder the yanks are up in arms over the introduction of digital / electronic recorders .

KM666

1,757 posts

182 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
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I'm a recent class 2 pass doing 7.5t work at the moment, you can go slightly over the 4.5 hours tacho rule in unforeseen circumstances so long as you do a print out and account for why, bad traffic, nowhere safe to stop etc and so long as there's a record you're covered, a copy for you and a copy for transport thats uploaded to the dvsa database. I've also had to move a vehicle say 10-20 meters while on break and it not changed from break on a 1.4, bit surprising really.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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It isn't that straightforward. I am a very experienced entitlement holder, and I think that a pattern of exceeding anything will see you in front of the TC.

grumpy52

5,565 posts

165 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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Contrary to popular belief the Traf pol or DVSA are not really interested in the odd couple of minutes if you have a reasonable explination and the right attitude, they know that even with good planning and intentions things can go wrong .
They do look for persistent or regular offenders and system cheats and abusers.
One even quiried a 1 minute ejection of my card during a night rest .
The explination of fumbling in the dark to check the time without puting my specs on only raised a smile and me being told that it wouldn't have reset my rest break if I had been worried about it .

racin.snake

5 posts

101 months

Friday 19th January 2018
quotequote all
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
I think you'll find that's incorrect use of the mode switch, as breaks cannot officially be taken in the drivers seat, which will result in an infringement.
Sorry to be a pedant biggrin

Edited by racin.snake on Friday 19th January 21:24

Pericoloso

44,044 posts

162 months

Friday 19th January 2018
quotequote all
racin.snake said:
markymarkthree said:
If driver is in stationary traffic he can put taco to break.
I think you'll find that's incorrect use of the mode switch , which will result in an infringement
If the road ahead is closed and traffic is going nowhere for a while there nothing wrong in having a break in the middle of the road.

Fun Bus

17,911 posts

217 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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I’m sorry, I don’t agree. I can’t see how VOSA would agree either.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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What you do, and what you can do; seldom the same thing...

Fun Bus

17,911 posts

217 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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Fair point.

AF1

309 posts

201 months

Sunday 21st January 2018
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GC8 said:
This isn't really accurate. I would also expect a recent tachograph to be able to switch back to break without recording an interruption. It is only the older 5sec/1min types which will spoil a break for a small movement.
All digital tachos will record the movement. You can't see it on your card printout, it won't interrupt your rest if you switch it back to break quick enough but if the dvsa man downloads or prints a speed trace from the head it will show. Best bet is to do a printout with an excuse and hope you don't get stopped for a few days after.