working through breaks and not being paid.

patman99

Do buses have tacho's ?.

Round my way, a lot of the majors run split shifts (4 on, 4 off, 4 on), so you do get a break.

Hammyman

patman99 wrote: »

Do buses have tacho's ?.

You won't find a vehicle grossing 7.5t or more that doesn't have one fitted from the factory.

Sharon87

I'm sure if you join a union then threaten to strike will work, they make Boris Johnson quiver sometimes!

tight_scotsman

i am a coach / bus driver
you will be working under domestic driving rules i work under eu rules which are different from domestic rules.
your transport manager cannot schedule a trip which would force yu to brake these rules and he or the company can be prosecuted as it is a very serious offence.

in a 24 hr period you must have had nine hours rest between shifts

after a max of 5 1/2 hrs you must have a 45 min break thats the law and no one is above the law.

i would advise you to contact your local VOSA office enforcement section
you can do this in complete confidence just give them the details and they will investigate
can i also add that if you were to be involved in any accident however serious you can end up in jail for braking these rules
they are there for everyones safety
i refused to bring a coach 3miles back to the depot as i was out of time
and there was nowt the company could do about it.
buses that are on a scheduled run do not need tachographs if they are operating within 50 km of the depot

hope this helps

sweets_peas

Hi thanks for the replys.

I am a member of the union but in our company we do not have enough members for our employers to recognise them.

Regarding breaks these bus routes are under domestic, and yes ive told my employers the rules on breaks till I am blue in the face, just not getting anywhere..

With domestic rules you have 2 rules to follow

1) is after 5 and half hours, you have 30mins rest

or

2) in a period of 8 and a half hours 45mins must be taken so a driver does not drive for more than 7hours 45mins then it must be the end of your shift.

My employers use rule number 2 mostly..

Which they seem to think is i can drive 7hours 45mins without a break!!!

also they seem to think if you use the first rule then beaks can be accumulated, i.e 5mins here, 5 mins there, etc so in that period you've accumulated half hour breaks, which to be honest is just wrong! 5mins is not a break and in a blink of a eye its over, as well as passengers just don't understand and want to why they cant board the bus, so you waste your 5mins arguing with them or 5mins loading them up!!
When this is mentioned to management they turn round and say well your not driving so it doesn't affect your driving hours!!!!!!!!!!

Ive sent a letter to VOSA, people have sent the duty cards to VOSA and nothing gets done..

just feel like we are fighting a losing battle :-(

relic

Am I going crazy or are there two different people called sweet peas posting here?

sweets_peas

yes sorry lol i lost my old user name but ive got it back lol same person :j

Hammyman

sweets_peas wrote: »

Ive sent a letter to VOSA, people have sent the duty cards to VOSA and nothing gets done..

just feel like we are fighting a losing battle :-(

You're going to the wrong person. You need to contact the Traffic Commissioner who covers your area. They're the ones who issue O licences and check on compliance. VOSA have too much to do.

LittleVoice

Hammyman wrote: »

Once you have worked 6hrs then you need to take a 30 minute break. You cannot work 6hrs and 1 minute then take the break.

Its only 90 minutes tacho break if you're exceeding 9hrs driving and you can only do that twice in any one week.

Given that you can work 6 hours with no entitlement to a break and the requirement is to take 30 minutes if the work session is between 6 and 9 hours then surely taking a break after 6 hours and 1 minute is absolutely OK. It is not at the end of the 9-hour shift. (I know a break at the end of a shift would be wrong under normal WTR requirements.)

d.ross_2

Hammyman wrote: »

You won't find a vehicle grossing 7.5t or more that doesn't have one fitted from the factory.

Except emergency vehicles.