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Transport regulation - some Spring reminders
15 April 2010
At a time of worker strikes and go slows, there is no slowing
the changes to legislation that have been brought in by the
government. In the specific transport arena alone, recent changes
to legislation include new EU rules to govern the operator
licensing system and the cabotage market, and amendments to the MOT
requirements for vehicle sideguards.
Whilst keeping up with and adapting to the new legislation, it
is easy to forget that other recent legislation still needs to be
monitored. In particular, transport operators subject to the
European rules will need to renew their working time agreements,
and their digital tachograph cards.
Working Time Agreements
The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 were
implemented in the UK on 4 April 2005. They stipulate that, in
general, working time for workers in the road transport sector must
not exceed an average of 48 working hours per week over a 17 week
reference period. If drivers work at night, there is a limit of 10
hours work that can be undertaken in any 24 hour period.
However, employers can agree with workers to extend the
reference period for the average 48 hour working time limit up to a
maximum of 26 weeks, can agree to extend the 10 hour limit for
night work, and agree whether weekly working time will be monitored
using a 'fixed' or 'rolling' weekly reference period.
Such agreements can only be made by 'collective agreement'
(between the employer and a trade union) or in some cases a
'workforce agreement'. Such agreements can only be valid for a
maximum of five years, and so agreements which were concluded
around the time that the Regulations came into force will urgently
need to be renewed.
Digital tachograph cards
Also in 2005, the DVLA first started issuing digital tachograph
driver cards, which are personalised to the individual driver, and
company cards. The cards are valid for five years, after which the
card will stop record drivers’ activity, and operators will be
unable to manage their data.
The DVLA has said it will issue renewal reminders to drivers and
companies whose cards are due to expire. To renew, you will need to
fill out the application forms and send them to the DVLA together
with the fee, currently £19 per card.
To ensure a new card is received before the current one expires,
cardholders should apply at least 15 working days before the
current card expiry date.
Lastly, we understand that there may be an issue with the driver
and company cards issued prior to 26 August 2006. These cards will
stop working up to 24 hours before their expiry date. The affected
cards will show as invalid for this day and will be treated as
malfunctioning. We recommend that cardholders driving on this day
keep manual records using the print out facility.
Failure to keep tachograph records as required, and failure to
adhere to working time regulations, could result in fixed penalty
notices being issued to drivers and/or a prosecution by VOSA.
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