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Room for manoeuvre
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Page 27
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Drivers have some leeway to exceed their hours in bad weather, but operators must ensure they understand the limitations.
Words: James Backhouse Hopefully the country has now seen the last of the recent bad weather, but with the questionable reliability of weather reports, drivers should not put away their ice scrapers just yet. In the first weeks of 2010, operators have experienced significant disruption from the UK's variable climate.
During the extreme weather, travel disruption has led to an increase in breaches of the drivers' hours rules.
The Department for Transport announced various temporary and limited relaxations in the enforcement of the hours rules for drivers involved in the distribution of bulk milk, road salt, animal feeds, oil and de-icer products to airports (see hftp://bitly/8jv850), but what should operators in other fields expect from the enforcement agencies during the cold snap?
Officially, while no relaxation will be allowed, some leniency should be given by enforcement officers if the delay that has led to breaking the hours rules is due to the weather. This falls within the unavoidable delay provisions of the EU rules.
Article 12 of the EU rules states:
'Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised and to enable the vehicle to reach a suitable stopping place, the driver may depart from Articles 6 to 9 [i.e. the drivers' hours rules] to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, of the vehicle or its load. The driver shall indicate the reason for such departure manually on the record sheet of the recording equipment or on a printout from the recording equipment or in the duty roster, at the latest on arrival at the suitable stopping placelart. 12 of 561/2006] This exemption can only apply in cases where it unexpectedly becomes impossible to comply with the hours rules during the course of a journey.
The difficulty created by the delay must he the need for a suitable stopping place. Planned breaches of the rules are not allowed.
The effect of this rule is to give the driver the option to exceed the rules to the limited extent allowed.
It is for the driver to exercise discretion and assess whether road safety would be prejudiced. While it might be normal for a driver to liaise with their employer, the ultimate decision will rest with that driver.
Please remember that making a proper record of the reason for the departure from the rules on the tachograph or printout is essential to prevent a breach occurring.
This limited relaxation can be used when unforeseen delays are caused by bad weather.
It is obvious that this power does not mean operators have carte blanche to run vehicles with little respect for drivers' hours rules and use the had weather as an excuse.
Operators should write to their drivers, detailing the legal and company procedure where a breach of the hours rules is caused by an unforeseen event. Drivers should be reminded of their obligation to write the reason for any delays on the back of the tachograph chart or on a printout, giving specific details as to why there has been a breach of the regulations.
Planning routes
Operators also need to be aware that they should plan their drivers' routes carefully bearing in mind the adverse weather conditions the country could be experiencing in different areas.
Although drivers might be delayed starting their break or rest by some unforeseen delay caused by bad weather, the derogation only allows delays for sufficient time to reach a suitable stopping place — this may not be the desired location from an operational perspective, but road safety must not be jeopardised.
There is a wealth of information available on the intemet to assist in planning journeys in line with bad weather conditions.
The Highways Agency and the Met Office websites are particularly useful sources of information. Both vvebsites operate a hazard warning system, that when red, mean HGVs should not be on the road, but should find the nearest safe parking point and wait until the hazard is reduced.
More information on the alert system can be found at www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/16732.aspx
In the meantime, all operators should be vigilant against drivers using the snow as an excuse to skip rest periods and should continue to monitor drivers' hours compliance rigorously.
Please remember, above all else, you must have a valid recorded and reasonable excuse for any failings of the rules, and safety of all road users is paramount. N James Backhouse is a director at Rackhouse Jones solicitors. Email: James@backhouses.co.uk