YOU AND THE LAW YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
72 TRUCKING Summer 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk
YOU & T HE L AW
Got a legal query you need clearing up? Our resident legal expert is on hand
to offer free professional help and advice
By David Glover
PHOTOGRAPHY VARIOUS
then wishes to drive a wagon to
make a delivery of goods, they
will need to hold a DCPC.Drivers’ hours
DOMESTIC RULES
Can you please explain
how the drivers’ hours
Great Britain domestic rules
work for goods vehicles? I still
find them confusing!Anyone wanting to know if,
and how, the Great Britain
domestic rules apply to them
would need to check their
specific circumstances. The
DVSA pages online provide a
useful resource. Great Britain
domestic rules, as contained
in the Transport Act 1968, apply
to most goods vehicles that are
exempt from the EU rules.
Separate rules apply to
Northern Ireland.
Driving is defined as being at
the controls of a vehicle for the
purposes of controlling its
movement, whether it is moving
or stationary with the engine
running, even for a short period
of time.
The limits for daily driving are
that in any working day, the
maximum amount of driving
permitted is 10 hours. The daily
driving limit applies to driving on
and off the public road. Off-road
driving for the purposes of
agriculture, quarrying, forestry,
building work or civil engineering
counts as duty, rather than
driving time. A day is defined as
the 24-hour period beginning
with the start of duty time.
Daily duty limits are that in any
working day, the maximum
amount of duty permitted is 11
hours. A driver is exempt from
the daily duty limit (11 hours) on
any working day when they do
not drive. A driver who does not
drive for more than four hours on
each day of the week is exempt
from the daily duty limit for the
whole week. A week is the period
from 0000 hrs on a Monday to
2400 hrs the following Sunday.
Duty is broadly regarded as, in
the case of an employee driver,
being on duty (whether driving or
otherwise) for anyone who
employs them as a driver. This
includes all periods of work and
driving, but does not include rest
or breaks. Employers should also
remember they have additional
obligations to ensure driversDriving regulations
DCPC EXEMPTIONS
Following on from last
month’s legal pages, I
have been asked about
scenarios when you do
not need to have Driver
Certificate of Professional
Competence when driving
may not be the principal
employment or road test etc.
Can you please offer some
more clarification on this?
The DVSA gives some good
information about this. I have
chosen a few scenarios which
could be relevant to this
scenario. Please note this is not
the full list of exemptions and
only specific advice can answer
a specific query.
Drivers of vehicles that are
being road tested after being
repaired or serviced, or for
technical development purposes,
do not need to hold a Driver
Certificate of Professional
Competence (DCPC). DCPC is
also not required when the
vehicle being driven is either new,
rebuilt or has not yet been taxed.
DCPC is not required when a
vehicle is being driven in the
course of a person’s work (1)
within 100 km of the driver’s
base, (2) no passengers are
being carried, (3) no goods are
being carried except for
equipment that is incidental to
the safe carriage of goods or
passengers or loading or
unloading the vehicle and (4)
driving such vehicles is not the
driver’s principal activity.
Drivers of vehicles which are
carrying equipment or material
that will be used by them in the
course of their work and not
required to hold DCPC, provided
driving the vehicle is not their
principal activity.
DCPC is not required when a
person is employed as a
mechanic by a local operator. As
part of the mechanic’s
responsibilities, they move empty
vehicles between depots in the
local area. They do not need a
DCPC because driving is not theprincipal activity and they are
not carrying passengers,
unless the depots are more than
100 km apart.
DCPC is not required when a
person works as a salesperson
for a local dealer and
occasionally demonstrates
vehicles to customers. This
is because they are only
driving short distances without
a load, and driving is not the
principal activity.
However, DCPC is required
when a person is a workshop
manager for a goods operator if,
as part of the manager’s
responsibilities, they occasionally
have to provide driving cover
delivering empty trailers to
depots across the country.
Although not the principal
activity, they will need a DCPC as
the driving involves distances
greater than 100 km from base.
Examples only cover the driver
while they are engaged in that
specific activity. So for example if
a technician who normally only
drives wagons on road tests,