tacho rules do you know them?

[kindlett]

:thumbdown:I was pulled in by police and v.o.s.a friday,as i have a 8x5 twinaxle tow a van tariler on the back of my double cab 4x4 pickup the vosa officer has told me i must have a tacho fitted.when i ask him on friday does this rule apply to farmers with 4x4 and cattle trailers.he replied saying they are alloweed to travel 50km max distance from there farm to take livestock to market.So i didnt think to ask if that rule applied to me transporting firewood.The pickup and trailer combined weight exceeds 3500kg he said so therefor u must have a tacho fitted i didn't argue with him i thought rule is a rule i just took the 7 days notice and drove off,i then thought i wonder if the 50km rule applies to me i give my brother a ring who to my luck is a transport manager for a big distribution company.He told me there and then that it does and the vosa officer should of made me aware of it.So then i give the officer a call on his mobile number i left him a message explaining i had found this out that the 50km rule did apply to me and that my brother was a transport manager and he knows the rules inside out.Today i recieved a phone call off the officer to confirm we were correct.He has ask me to email him giving proof that i dont deliver any further than 50km from my depot.I am discussded with him he never mentioned anything to me when he pulled me so lads if u get pulled up by vosa be on your guard.Has anyone else on here been told they need a tacho?

[delabodge]

no new one on me,,,but have been pulled lately for em dipping my tank for red,,glad wasnt loaded up with logs,,as with my gravely chipper too,,I would have had to ditch the lads,,,,,

[treequip]

Hmmmmn

 

I don’t see how an exemption intended for animal welfare can be extended to delivering fuel.

 

Can you get chapter and verse on this exemption from the VOSA man?

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/road/workingtime/drivershoursgoods.pdf

[treequip]

no new one on me,,,but have been pulled lately for em dipping my tank for red,,glad wasnt loaded up with logs,,as with my gravely chipper too,,I would have had to ditch the lads,,,,,

 

The folks doing the dipping aren’t interested in overloading, it’s outside their remit.

[Peter]

This is the livestock exemption. This clearly cannot apply to log deliveries.

 

"Vehicles that are used to carry live animals

between a farm and a market or from a market to

a slaughterhouse where the distance between the

farm and the market or between the market and

the slaughterhouse does not exceed 50 km."

 

The only other exemptions that may be relevent to our industry are:

 

"Vehicles used or hired without a driver by agricultural,

horticultural, forestry, farming or fishery undertakings

for carrying goods as part of their own entrepreneurial

activity within a radius of 100 km from the base of

the undertaking."

 

and

 

Vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum

permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes that are

used:

 

• for carrying materials, equipment or machinery

for the driver’s use in the course of his work.

These vehicles shall be used only within a 50 km

radius of the base of the undertaking and on the

condition that driving the vehicle does not constitute

the driver’s main activity.

 

Neither of which really fit the bill.

 

Curious!

[gensetsteve]

I tow the trailer in my avatar for servicing large generators. The vehicle gross is 3 tonne and trailer 3.5 tonne so combined 6.5 tonne. I dont tow more than 50 km and to my knowledge allows exemption. If you ask vosa for the rules chapter and verse they will tell you to interpret yourself and if you get it wrong it will be up to the courts to decide. The rules are now so complex and unclear and contadictory the purpose they serve is for knowalls to sit and smuggly tell the rest of the world they cant carry on about their business. None of this will matter soon as we will all be employed by a commi government to sit around and learn about health and safety. from an erogonmically designed chair at a desk with round edges.

[geoff]

:thumbdown:I was pulled in by police and v.o.s.a friday,as i have a 8x5 twinaxle tow a van tariler on the back of my double cab 4x4 pickup the vosa officer has told me i must have a tacho fitted.when i ask him on friday does this rule apply to farmers with 4x4 and cattle trailers.he replied saying they are alloweed to travel 50km max distance from there farm to take livestock to market.So i didnt think to ask if that rule applied to me transporting firewood.The pickup and trailer combined weight exceeds 3500kg he said so therefor u must have a tacho fitted i didn't argue with him i thought rule is a rule i just took the 7 days notice and drove off,i then thought i wonder if the 50km rule applies to me i give my brother a ring who to my luck is a transport manager for a big distribution company.He told me there and then that it does and the vosa officer should of made me aware of it.So then i give the officer a call on his mobile number i left him a message explaining i had found this out that the 50km rule did apply to me and that my brother was a transport manager and he knows the rules inside out.Today i recieved a phone call off the officer to confirm we were correct.He has ask me to email him giving proof that i dont deliver any further than 50km from my depot.I am discussded with him he never mentioned anything to me when he pulled me so lads if u get pulled up by vosa be on your guard.Has anyone else on here been told they need a tacho?

 

Inocent till proved guilty,tell him to stick his email and report him!

[Mozza]

Surely its just better to comply with the tacho law rather than looking for loop holes??

[geoff]

Yes Liam,if you need one I would agree,but a copper telling you to prove you dont travel x miles from base is out of order,habeus corpus methinks!

[skyhuck]

Surely its just better to comply with the tacho law rather than looking for loop holes??

 

If my accountant developed that attitude I'd sack him.

 

One mans loop hole is another mans exemption.

 

Its a bit like terrorists and freedom fighters.