Tacho’s, Delays; it’Snow joke

Hopefully the Country is beginning to see the end to the recent bad weather conditions, but with the questionable reliability of the Met Office’s predictions, can we expect more unexpected weather interference throughout this year?

Only a couple of weeks into 2010 vehicle operators have already experienced the damage that the UK's variable climate can throw at their businesses.

Of course through this period of extreme weather, travel disruption has been prevalent which has lead to an increase in breaches of the Driver's Hours Rules.

The Department for Transport has announced various temporary and limited relaxations in the enforcement of drivers hours rules for drivers involved in the distribution of Bulk Milk, Road Salt, Animal Feeds, Oil and De-icer products to Airports (see www.backhousejones.co.uk/news ), but for Operators in other fields what should they expect from the Enforcement Agencies over the following weeks?

Whilst officially, no relaxation will be allowed, some leniency should be given by enforcement officers if the delay, which has lead to the contravention of the Drivers Hours Rules is due to the weather, which falls within the unavoidable delay provisions of the EU rules.

Article 12 of the EU rules states:

Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised and to enable the vehicle to reach a suitable stopping place, the driver may depart from Articles 6 to 9 [i.e. the drivers hours rules] to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, of the vehicle or its load. The driver shall indicate the reason for such departure manually on the record sheet of the recording equipment or on a printout from the recording equipment or in the duty roster, at the latest on arrival at the suitable stopping place". (art. 12 of 561/2006) (Square brackets comments added)

This exemption can apply only in cases where it unexpectedly becomes impossible to comply with the rules on drivers' hours during the course of a journey. The difficulty created by the delay must be the need for a suitable stopping place. Planned breaches of the rules are not allowed.

The effect of this rule is to give the driver the option to exceed the rules to the limited extent allowed. It is for the driver to exercise the discretion and at the same time to assess whether road safety would therefore be prejudiced.  Whilst it might be normal for a driver to liaise with his/her employer, the ultimate decision will rest with that driver. Please remember that making a proper record of the reason for the departure on the tachograph or printout is an essential requirement to prevent a breech occurring.

This limited relaxation can be used when unforeseen delays are caused by bad weather. It is also obvious that this power does not mean a 'carte blanche' for Operators to run vehicles with little respect for Driver Hours obligations and use the bad weather as an excuse.

All Operators should issue to their drivers a memo, declaring the legal and Company procedure where a breach of the Driver's Hour's Rules is caused by an unforeseen event. Driver's should be reminded of their obligation to write the reason for any delays on the back of the Tachograph chart or on a printout, giving specific detail as to why there has been a breach of the hours rules.

Operators need also to be aware that they should plan their driver's routes, bearing in mind the adverse weather conditions that the Country could be experiencing in different areas. It is important to note that though drivers may be delayed starting their break or rest by some unforeseen delay caused by a bad weather event, the derogation only allows delays for sufficient time to reach a suitable stopping place - this may well not be the desired location from an operational perspective, road safety must not be jeopardised.

There is a wealth of information for Operators available on the internet to assist in planning journeys in line with bad weather conditions. The Highways Agency website and the Met Office are useful sources on information. Both websites operate a hazard warning system, that when red, HGV's should not be on the road, but should find the nearest safe parking point and wait until the hazard is reduced. More information on the alert system can be found at http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/16732.aspx .

In the meantime all Operator's should be vigilant against driver's using the snow as an excuse to skip rest periods and should continue to monitor Driver's Hour's compliance rigorously.

Please remember, that above all else you must have a valid recorded reasonable excuse for any failings of the rules and safety of all road users is paramount.