Guest lightnix Posted June 26, 2006 Posted June 26, 2006 Following on from this point in the Long Working Hours thread... The PSA also report the story of Mark Fiebig (who died at the wheel or his car, after working some very long hours) on their website here; but add the following... The case raises issues... surrounding driving at work and employer’s liability... By law employers are responsible for any employee who drives at work... Whether the car is owned by the company or is privately owned doesn’t affect the employer’s responsibilities... from checking insurance documents, checking the car is road worthy to ensuring employees are properly trained. Employers who don’t take these responsibilities seriously could be facing hefty fines or even imprisonment... The Licence Bureau... recently highlighted the need for companies to employ vigorous employee driving licence checks. In one day of random checks... seven employees out of the 500 checked were not legally allowed to drive, something their employers were unaware of. Other recent surveys also show... only one in four employers check that a private car is insured for business, 62% of companies don’t carry out inspections on company vehicles, 73% of employees have never received any driver training and 48% of employees had broken the speed limit because of pressures from their employer...
Tomo Posted July 3, 2006 Posted July 3, 2006 48% of employees had broken the speed limit because of pressures from their employer...Yes - I've been literally told to break the speed limit before. Driving back from one event, I get a call saying that they've double-booked me and I need to be 200 miles away in two hours.I told them I'd be there when I got there, but I did feel under pressure to go faster. Several of the truck drivers I've spoken to said that their clients and employers have expected them to break the driving hours regs and fake the tacho readings in the past - one reason that I welcome the new smart-card engine-interlinked tacho system, as it's supposed to make it much harder to fake the tacho readings.
Ian Cunningham Posted July 4, 2006 Posted July 4, 2006 That sounds all too familiar. I've done a number of events where the travel times were "optimistic": Leave Edinburgh city centre at 15:00 unload Brimingham 19:00 - I don't think so.More insidious is the "it takes you *how* long to get from X to Y - what sort of pussy are you?" type of comment. I don't listen now: It's my licence, not theirs. I'll not risk my safety and my licence for their benefit Another major issue is overloading of vehicles - how often have we seen 7.5 Tonners loaded way over their limit? One company near me is notorious for it whereas another weighs each vehicle before it leaves the warehouse and enforces the weight limits :( (seems odd to be cheering something that should be done as a matter of course but its so rare to see it done right)Its one of the reason's I've not done my class C licence - it removes that conflict which can be very awkward if you are freelance Ian
SeanT Posted July 9, 2006 Posted July 9, 2006 Yeah but Sprinters are dead easy to overload, and the new (ish) regs which mean that none of our staff can drive 7.5 tonners mean that everything has to go into 3.5t vans.....
slim_mcslim Posted July 9, 2006 Posted July 9, 2006 New Sprinter is 5t GVW, and you can get your staff to take a class C test in a 5t sprinter, which has to be easier than a 7.5t truck costs about £80 for the test and then they can drive trucks too... (legally)
Simon Lewis Posted July 10, 2006 Posted July 10, 2006 New Sprinter is 5t GVW, and you can get your staff to take a class C test in a 5t sprinter, which has to be easier than a 7.5t truck costs about £80 for the test and then they can drive trucks too... (legally) The new Sprinter range goes up to 5000kg GVW (which is not uncommon - there have been panel vans up to 7500kg GVW for many years). However, when the GVW is over 3500kg and is used for business an Operators Licence is needed. This includes using a trailer. Furthermore, a tachograph is required. Therefore, there are a number of other issues involved in the move to using 5t vehicles. Many drivers may need to take a course of lessons before attempting their additional test! Simon
mal421 Posted July 11, 2006 Posted July 11, 2006 Here's a thought . A vehicle being used for work becomes a 'workplace' so therefore should have a first aid kit and a suitable fire exstinguisher . Not to mention a supply of drinkable water .Also the company's policy on smoking must be considered . £0.02
Snailtrail Posted July 14, 2006 Posted July 14, 2006 New Sprinter is 5t GVW, and you can get your staff to take a class C test in a 5t sprinter, which has to be easier than a 7.5t truck costs about £80 for the test and then they can drive trucks too... (legally) I think you'll find that is class C1 - up to 7.5T mgw that you used to get on your car licence before 1997.... Class C is any rigid vehicle and the test has to be taken in a vehicle above 10T mgw. Sam (recently passed class C test! :blink: )
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