Drivers struggle to match Drivers' Hours and WTD

Drivers have called on VOSA to clarify how the new drivers' hours regs and the Working Time Directive (WTD) can operate side by side. Since the introduction of the EU drivers' hours legislation last week, drivers have been grappling with when to take their breaks to satisfy both sets of regulations. The drivers' hours rules state that the first break must last at least 15min and the second break, taken before or at the end of the 4½hr driving period, must be at least 30min. The WTD states drivers must have a 30min break before or at the end of a 6hr working period.

One Wincanton driver tells CM: "This is where it becomes a minefield for drivers. Let's say you drive for two hours to an RDC, where you have a 15min break on site while waiting to be unloaded. However, you are still at the RDC 3hr 45min later - can you then take the second 30min break to be on the right side of both laws? Or does the break for the WTD have to be in a block of 30min? "Before, breaks were flexible enough so that when you were tired you could pull over and have a rest. Now you'll have drivers looking at their day's work trying to work out when the best time to fit their breaks in to optimise their driving/work/delivery schedule, rather than resting when they need it."

Gordon MacDonald, traffic enforcement policy advisor at VOSA, says: "The question only involves two hours' worth of driving, so the first 15min break fulfils the driver's obligation for part of a 45min break after driving for 4½hr. There is no requirement to take another break in relation to EC driving, at least not until the driver does another 2½hr' driving, at which point he'd have to take a 30min break. "As far as WTD breaks are concerned, these can be broken down into periods of no less than 15min. Therefore, having taken one break of 15min after 2hr, he then needs to take another 15min break after the lengthy spell at the RDC. The driver obviously can't use this additional 15min towards his EU break, because the second break must be at least 30min."