As expected the Department for Transport has from 0001 hours on 18th March 2020 agreed a temporary relaxation in relation to the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules in England, Scotland and Wales. But this is only for certain types of journeys !
Relevant drivers
The relaxations cover drivers involved in the delivery of food, non-food (personal care and household paper and cleaning) and over the counter pharmaceuticals but NOT drivers undertaking deliveries directly to consumers.
Relevant journeys
Timescale
It applies from 00:01 on Wednesday 18 March 2020 and will run until 23:59 on Thursday 16 April 2020 (unless lengthened or shortened) and only to relevant drivers.
Rules relaxations
a) ‘replacement of the EU daily driving limit of 9 hours with one of 11 hours;
b) reduction of the daily rest requirements from 11 to 9 hours;
c) lifting the weekly (56 hours) and fortnightly driving limits (90 hours) to 60 and 96 hours respectively;
d) postponement of the requirement to start a weekly rest period after six-24 hours periods, for after seven 24 hours period; although two regular weekly rest periods or a regular and a reduced weekly rest period will still be required within a fortnight;
e) the requirements for daily breaks of 45 minutes after 4.5 hours driving replaced with replaced with a break of 45 minutes after 5.5 hours of driving.
Drivers’ must not use relaxation ‘a’ and ‘d’ at the same time. This is to ensure drivers are able to get adequate rest.’
Recording requirement
The DfT requires that ‘The drivers in question must note on the back of their tachograph charts or printouts the reasons why they are exceeding the normally permitted limits’ and notes that ‘This is usual practice in emergencies and is, of course, essential for enforcement purposes.’ Drivers should already be familiar with this procedure but if not need to be reminded and if necessary trained.
We are pleased to confirm our new training site opens in Felixstowe on Monday 2nd March. All public Driver CPC & ADR courses together with our Transport Manager courses will be held at the new site from this date. Private courses will of course still be available at customer premises.
We will be offering even more driver CPC & Driver ADR courses from our new venue, just visit our dedicated bookings website for the latest course updates : www.bookcoursesnow.com
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Our next Transport Manager Operator Certificate of Professional Competence Course begins in Ipswich W/C 27th November. This is an eight day course including the OCR exams for delegates who wish to obtain the CPC qualification.
Go to our dedicated bookings website at: www.bookcoursesnow.co.uk for further information and to book your place.
We will shortly be resuming Operator CPC courses from our Ipswich site, these will be for both initial and refresher courses. Our initial course duration is 8 days (inclusive of exams) and our refresher courses are for two days.
Contact us for further information regarding dates.
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As transport regulators, the traffic commissioners promote safe passenger and goods transport. Although most operators, like you, comply with the rules and take operator licensing very seriously, some aren't as diligent and don't keep road safety at the forefront of their minds. Unfortunately, there are bad practices, dangerous vehicles and unsafe operations out there. The commissioners work tirelessly to remove these businesses from the industry and keep our roads safe. They can do this because DVSA examiners investigate rogue operators and report them to the commissioners. If you have information about any non-compliance, such as an overloaded lorry, a bus with dangerously low tyre treads or a vehicle carrying insufficiently secured goods, please report it to DVSA. Email: IntelligenceUnit@dvsa.gov.ukCall: 0300 123 9000 |
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In 2017/18, 110 operators and 144 transport managers were disqualified by traffic commissioners. Those orders were made to stop individuals overseeing vehicle operations for a certain period of time - and in the worst cases indefinitely. Legitimate on paper Some people ignore the ban they've been given and carry on operating illegally. Others try to hide what they're doing through a 'front'. This might be a business which looks legitimate on paper and isn't connected to the banned operator. Or it might be the disqualified person's got a silent connection to an existing licence holder. Taking action That silent connection is a major risk for any legitimate operator and transport manager. It's the exact situation a transport manager in the North East recently faced. The operator he worked for hired vehicles and contracted maintenance to businesses which were run by an individual banned from operating until 2028. The transport manager was given instructions and paid by the disqualified operator - not the licence holder - and didn't have a contract of employment. He was prevented from carrying out his duties as TM and even asked to move vehicles for the banned operator's company. The TM left the business because he wasn't able to do his job. The true operator The Traffic Commissioner, Tim Blackmore, took no action against the transport manager at public inquiry. He recognised that the TM acted to quickly remove himself from the 'front' operation. The licence holder didn't show up for the inquiry. After hearing evidence from a DVSA vehicle examiner, the Commissioner ruled the licence had been used as a front for the banned operator. He revoked the authority with immediate effect. He also disqualified the firm's director for three years because he'd allowed his licence to be used as a front for a banned operator. Check operator history If you've got concerns about disqualified operators, you can check decisions made by traffic commissioners via our online records. |
The director of a haulage firm has had his professional driving licence revoked after being told he should never have got behind the wheel of his vehicle. West of England Traffic Commissioner, Kevin Rooney, said the director made a “serious, reckless error of judgement” by driving when he was probably suffering from fatigue. He started at just before 6am and was driving again almost 18 hours later. He was also reported for travelling the wrong way around a roundabout. The director admitted his mind wasn’t on driving due to personal issues. This led Mr Rooney to say he should never have been behind the wheel. During a conduct hearing, the Traffic Commissioner also found the director had driven vehicles to and from maintenance providers without a card in the tachograph head. As well as revoking the director’s professional driving licence, Mr Rooney also banned him from holding or obtaining an operator’s licence for two years. The latest written decisions by traffic commissioners are published here. |
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It means they can’t apply for or get another licence. In fact, it’s a criminal offence to do so. A small minority of disqualified operators do attempt to continue operating. They take a chance and try to get round the ban. Often they’re not named on documents and don’t show up when the licence application is made. Luckily, staff working for the Office of the Traffic Commissioner scrutinise applications to identify links and associations to banned operators. This stops them from getting back in under the radar. But sometimes banned operators draw attention to themselves. In a recent case, a disqualified operator was featured in a commercial vehicle magazine. It gave the impression that he was the operator and employer of a driver who was named in the article. The director of the company wasn’t mentioned at all. That wasn’t the only thing to gave it away. The transport manager said he’d been contacted by the banned operator and had never met company director. And when DVSA told the director they suspected he wasn’t the genuine operator, he responded with “no comment”. This led Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones to say the banned operator and company director had been caught out as “dishonest liars". You can read the latest written decisions by traffic commissioners here. |
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Simon Evans, the North West Traffic Commissioner, heard the driver closed the gap between vehicles at speed on more than one occasion – only stopping inches from the rear bumper of the DVSA vehicle. This “hot-headed conduct” had made the agency’s job of checking vehicles at the roadside more difficult. Mr Evans was also told the driver had sworn at the enforcement officer and that his actions had been intimidating. The driver – who was the operator of the vehicle as well – admitted he’d acted “stupidly” and said he regretted losing control on the day of the encounter. Mr Evans said the “wholly improper” behaviour would reduce the operator’s credibility with other staff in his employment. Stretched maintenance inspections and issues over the entity running the vehicles were also picked up during a public inquiry. As a result, the Traffic Commissioner made an order to revoke the operator’s licence. He also found the requirements of fitness and availability of financial resources were not met. DVSA has made clear that it won’t tolerate physical or verbal abuse of its staff. Traffic commissioners support the agency’s campaign to tackle any unacceptable behaviour DVSA staff may face when carrying out their professional duties. |
DVSA traffic examiner investigations were referred to the Traffic Commissioner. At the inquiry, the issues included:
The transport manager told the Commissioner one of the firm's directors hadn't wanted to deal with him directly for about a year. So everything went through a driver, who also carried out downloads.
Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney said the TM hadn’t made any realistic attempt, during 2018 at least, to debrief drivers on infringements. He'd "allowed a careless culture of non-compliance to fester".
What happens when a bad operator is banned from running vehicles?
A driver who drove erratically after being told to stop by DVSA acted in a “wholly disproportionate” manner and increased the risks to other road users through his behaviour.