Drivers

Certificate of professional Competence (Driver CPC)
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September 2009 Drivers Certificate of Professional Competence will be implemented. The aim is to improve and maintain skills and knowledge providing better-qualified drivers.
Existing drivers will not lose their licence, but will be required to complete a total of 35 hours of periodic training within five years of the implementation date (September 2014) to update their knowledge and skills.

The driving Standards agency will run the CPC in the UK. Their intention is that each year a driver will attend a 7 hour training day each year for five years.

Drivers will be issued with a driver’s qualification card on completion of the 35 hours of training. All new drivers joining the industry will have to pass the Drivers CPC prior to driving LGV vehicles and will have to complete the 35 Hours training in the following five years.

Transport Areas
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Our busy transport division covers the local area Somerset, Avon, South Wales.
We work closely with our customers and drivers and build long-term relationships. we are a partnership you can trust.
We have first hand knowledge of how busy transport & distribution can be so we do understand how it all works and how important it is to keep all operations running smoothly.

The purpose of this report is to notify you of the provisions of the new Working Time Road Transport Regulations, together with details of our collective agreements that apply to you. Please read the following information carefully:

1. Who is affected?

• Drivers subject to current EU 3820/85 driver’s hours
• Non-driving vehicle crew carried in a vehicle where the operation is required to comply with EU 3820/85 driver’s hours rules
• The new rules do not apply to self-employed drivers as defined by the new regulations
• You may not ‘opt-out’ of any of the rules, which are in addition to (not instead of) the EU 3820/85 driver’s hours rules

2. What are the rules?

• A maximum 48 hour average working week-This is normally calculated over a fixed 17 (or occasionally 18) week reference period, which is defined by the government We have the choice to use rolling or fixed reference periods. We have agreed to use fixed periods.
• A maximum cap of 60 hours duty time in any fixed week-The fixed week starts at 00:00 hours on Monday and finishes at 24:00 hours the following Sunday.
• A maximum limit of 10 hours duty time in any 24 hour period for night workers-A night worker is someone who works for any time between 00:00 hours and 04:00 hours. This night work limit has been extended by collective agreement to 12 hours, but all other rules and limits still apply.
• Breaks from work-You may not work for more than 6 hours without a break. A 30 minute break is needed if your total working time is over 6 hours but not over 9 hours. A 45 minute break is needed if your total working time is over 9 hours. Breaks must interrupt working time. Breaks must be taken before the end of 6 hours working time or after 4.5 hours driving time, whichever happens first.
• Daily and weekly rest as specified in the tachograph rules-There are no changes to daily and weekly rest period rules.

3. What is working time?

Working time is not the same as attendance, spread over or shift time.

Working time includes all road transport activities, such as:
• Driving
• Loading and unloading
• Vehicle cleaning and maintenance
• Work to ensure the safety of the vehicles and its cargo including daily defect checks
• Attendance at approved meetings
• Waiting time that cannot be classed as a period of availability
• Any other work, including administrative duties
• Overtime
• Job related training and company’s transport operation training
• Time worked for another employer
• Attending medicals
• Occasions where you are required to be at your workstation ready to take up normal duties and cannot use your time freely

Working time does not include:
• Breaks during a shift
• Periods of availability
• Daily rest
• Weekly rest
• Voluntary work, including charitable work, special constables, Territorial Army and retained fire fighters
• Evenings and day release courses
• Routine travel to and from your place of work
• Jury service
• Working as self-employed as defined by the new regulations

4. What is a period of availability?

The following three conditions apply to a period of availability (PoA):

• You are available for work but not required to undertake any working time activities.
• You must not be required to stay at your workstation. You may choose to remain in the vehicle as long as you have the freedom to leave it. If you must stay with the vehicle because of safety or security reasons this would still count as PoA time. Typical examples of this might include waiting time at sites where it is unsafe for pedestrians or where vehicles are transporting goods that are dangerous or of high value. Provided that you have some freedom to relax, the time may be counted as PoA.
• The period and its expected duration must be known about in advance. For example, if you typically expect to be delayed for a specific period of time, it will qualify as PoA.

As long as these conditions are met, examples of periods of availability can include:

• Accompanying a vehicle being transported by boat or train
• Waiting at national borders
• Delays due to traffic prohibitions
• Time waiting for someone else to load or unload the vehicle as long as you are not required to be in attendance
• Delays at customer’s premises
• Staying with a broken down vehicle at the roadside, waiting for repairs or recovery (unless you are involved in roadside assistance e.g.: traffic direction)
• Time spent waiting to undertake work after you have reported for duty
• Time spent travelling in the vehicle (while double manning)

Any period of availability of less then 5 minutes need not be recorded.
You have a contractual and legal duty to record PoA’s using the company documentation. Any contravention or failure to record this accurately may result in disciplinary action.

5. How do we calculate average working time when leave is taken?

• Statutory annual leave-48 hours working time is applied for each fixed week of leave taken and 8 hours for each individual day of leave.
• Sick leave-If an employee is off work sick for 3 consecutive days or more no working time is applied.

6. Can I work for more than one employer?

In the interests of safeguarding the health and safety of yourself and others, you ay not at anytime work outside of your work for Direct Response Employment Services without prior consent from your consultant. Permission to undertake such work including voluntary work can only be granted where Direct Response Employment Services is satisfied that it can still comply with its statutory obligations concerning maximum working hours and the hours and work concerned would not affect your ability to safely carry out your duties for Direct Response Employment Services.

If you are working under a temporary contract and in addition to your work for Direct Response Employment Services in any week, you also undertake work for other companies or persons, or are self-employed, you must comply with your legal obligations to provide full and accurate details of the number of hours worked. These details must be confirmed in writing to Direct Response Employment Services before commencement of your next assignment.

In the event that:
• Details of your working hours as above are not provided as required,
• You cannot work your assignment without breaching your maximum hours,
• Your consultant considers that you cannot work without posing a risk to health and safety,
you may not be allowed to commence your assignment.

7. What happens in emergencies?

Provided that road safety is not jeopardised and to enable you to reach a safe stopping place, you may depart from the rules, but only to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of people, the vehicle or its load. An emergency only applies in cases where it unexpectedly becomes impossible to comply with the working time rules and you must record all reasons for exceeding the limits.

8. What obligations do employers and workers have under the new rules?

The regulations require us to:

• Take all reasonable steps to ensure the limits and rules are being complied with
• Notify all employees of the provisions of the regulations and the provisions of any collective agreements
• Request from you, details in writing, of any time worked by you for another employer and include that time in working time calculations
• Keep adequate working time records for two years
• Provide to employees on request, a copy of their working time records
• Provide on request, working time records and any other necessary documents to law enforcement officers

The regulations and Direct Response Employment Services require you to:

• Inform us in writing of all working time undertaken for any other employer
• Accurately record all PoA’s
• Submit holiday request forms for approval, giving one week’s notice

Although most of the requirements for monitoring and keeping records lie with the employer, we both share the responsibility for complying with the rules. We are both at risk of prosecution if the rules are systematically broken.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. Should you have any questions regarding the working time regulations, please contact your consultant.

Domestic Rules Legislation
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The Domestic Rules apply to drivers carrying goods that are exempt from the EC regulations.

Examples of these are:
• Milk collection from farms
• Armed Forces movements
• Refuse collection and disposal
• Circus and funfair equipment transportation
• Agricultural, horticultural, forestry and fishery transportation within 50km of base
• Animal carcasses and waste
• Live animal transportation

Here are the Domestic Regulations:

• Maximum daily driving time is 10 hours. This is not duty time but hours spent actually driving. Off-road driving time counts as duty time.

• Maximum daily duty time is 11 hours. A driver is exempt from the daily duty time limit if they drive for 4 hours a day or less and on any working day when they do not drive.

• A daily rest of 13 hours must be taken.

Mixed Driving (Domestic and EC Regulations)

If a driver is driving a vehicle regulated by the Domestic rules part of the week and they are driving on EC regulations the rest of the week, they may choose to follow the EC rules at all times or a combination of both rules so long as the EC limits are not exceeded for EC regulated work.

You must consider the following points:
• Time spent driving under EC rules cannot count as an off-duty period under Domestic rules.

• Time spent driving or on duty under Domestic rules cannot count as a break or rest period under EC rules.

• Driving under EC rules counts towards the driving and duty limits under Domestic rules.

• Any EC driving in a week means that the driver must take EC daily and weekly rest.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. Should you have any questions regarding these regulations, please contact your consultant.

Driver’s Hours and Tachograph Rules
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• After 4.5 hours driving time, whether continuous or split, a break of 45 minutes must be taken. If, however, before 6 hours duty time no rest has been taken, a break of 30 minutes must be taken before the end of the sixth hour. Breaks can be split into minimum 15 minute sections.

• Maximum daily driving time is 9 hours. This can be extended to 10 hours twice a week.

• Maximum daily duty time is 15 hours.

• A daily rest of 11 hours must be taken. This can be reduced to no less than 9 hours three times a week.

• A weekly rest of 45 hours must be taken. This can be reduced to 36 hours but the time must be made up before the end of the following third week.

• You must keep your current week’s tachographs and any from the previous 15 days. They must be kept with you at all times until you are due to hand them in.

• You are only permitted by law to work an average of 48 hours per week. Maximum duty time allowed per week is 60 hours.

• If you are on duty at anytime between midnight and 04:00am, you are a Night Worker. This limits you to 10 hours duty time per shift. If you sign a Workforce Collective Agreement you are able to extend that limitation to 12 hours.

• A period of availiability (PoA) is any time where you are free to relax or are not required to carry out work duties. These must be known about in advance.
Examples of PoA:
Loading or unloading where you are not required to help
Waiting time that you know is going to arise
PoA’s must be recorded on your timesheets and tachographs.

• Mode switches on tachographs should be used as follows:

Accident and Incident Procedures
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• The first and foremost concern is for your own safety and that of others. Be quick to act-the first few minutes are the most important.

• You must stop and obtain the name and address of the owner of the vehicle or property involved including their registration number. The law requires that you report the accident to the Police within 24 hours if this information is not obtained.

• You must also obtain details of any property damage associated with the accident including the extent of the damage and the owner’s or occupier’s details.

• Names and addresses of all witnesses should be taken.

• Do not admit liability or make any agreement with anyone regarding the accident. Our insurance company will investigate and make the decision of responsibility.

• Take photographs of all damage, location, positions of vehicles and any other relevant information if possible.

• If the Police attend the accident you must co-operate fully. The name of the Police Officer, their number and name of their Police station must be obtained. If they take away your tachographs make sure you obtain proof of their receipt from the Officer.

• All accidents and incidents must be reported to your employer and your consultant as quickly as possible after the event.

Accident and Incident Procedure:

If you are involved in any incident or accident that causes damage, you must stop. Make sure you carry out the following procedures:

Stop the vehicle, applying the handbrake and turn off the ignition.

Check if anyone is injured and if so, dial the Emergency Services.

Check for any fire hazards and fuel spillages.

If carrying dangerous goods you must adhere to the proper safety procedures.

Give your full co-operation at all times.

London Lorry Ban and Congestion Charging
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London Lorry Ban

All goods vehicles over 18 tonnes plated gross weight are subject to the London Lorry Ban. The ban operates as follows:

00:00am-07:00am and 21:00pm-24:00pm Monday to Friday

00:00am-07:00am and 13:00pm-24:00pm Saturday

00:00am-24:00pm (All Day) Sunday

All vehicles subject to the London Lorry Ban travelling to London during the hours when the ban operates must have a permit. Your vehicle should be registered with the Fleet Scheme so payment can be made direct from your employer. If your vehicle is not registered you must contact your supervisor so that daily fees can be paid.
Certain roads are exempt from the ban and these are marked in green and purple on the London Lorry Ban map. Make sure you have up to date maps at all times.

Congestion Charging

Congestion charging applies in Central London. All congestion charging zones are indicated by signs on the road and at the roadside that display the white ‘C’ logo on a red background.

Charging applies between the hours of 07:00am and 18:30pm Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays.

Bridge Heights and High Loads
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Before setting out on a journey, every driver must make themselves aware of the maximum height of their vehicle and trailer and change the height marker in the cab to reflect this. Some bridges have height restrictions meaning some vehicles will not pass under them safely. Bridge strikes can be very dangerous and expensive, sometimes resulting in injury or death to you or another person, prosecution for serious traffic offences, expense, loss of work and general public disruption. Your employer could be responsible for costs of examinations and repairs to vehicles and the bridge.

The standard bridge height is 16ft 6in (5.03m) or more and most bridges lower than that will be marked with a warning sign.

The height markers on the bridges show the height at the centre of the bridge so you must manoeuvre your vehicle accordingly, taking into account your vehicle height, width and shape.

It is an offence to drive under any bridge with a circular height marker showing a lower height than that of your vehicle.

Protect your money, licence and livelihood
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To all Drivers – IMPORTANT

Graduated Fixed Penalties (VOSA) examiners and the police can issue fixed penalty notices to drivers found to have broken the law, Fixed penalties always include a fine (£30- £200 ) but also can add penalty points on the driving licence. All drivers who obtain 12 penalty points within a three year period, or new car licence holders who obtain six penalty points within two years of passing their test, will usually be disqualified from driving.

Top Tips for commercial drivers

Make sure your vehicle defect check every time you take over a vehicle – You get the penalty points along with fines if you use a vehicle with defective brakes- steering -gear or tyres.

Know your Load is safe, secure and not over loaded – you will get penalty points along with fines if you use a vehicle that is dangerous because of the way it is loaded.

Comply with all the rules on Drivers hours and records you could be fined by fixed penalty up to £2000 for every infringement, or more if it is taken to court

Obey all traffic rules and always watch your speed

Never use hand held phone when driving and make sure you always have proper control of your vehicle

Make sure your licence is up to date ( ie )Address (you could be fined £1,000 for failing to do this anyway) otherwise you will be asked to pay a deposit of up to £900 at the roadside

Always comply with requests from enforcement officers obstructing them is a serious criminal offence.

Remember that you have 28 days to decide whether to accept a fixed penalty – consider taking legal advice if you are unsure.

Remember that you are not obliged to make formal statements without legal representation

Never drive a vehicle that has been prohibited and never interfere with an immobilisation device or notice.

Always inform your consultant as soon as possible if you are stopped at a roadside check

Remember it is your livelihood please make sure you all do your checks its your licence.