Ask the MAC

Road worthy?

Q) I’m trying to clear an issue up around preventative maintenance inspection (PMI) documents or an electronic confirmation that the vehicle is roadworthy when being collected from a PMI. It is my understanding that either the PMI document or electronic confirmation should be supplied to us before the vehicle can be confirmed as being roadworthy. There is some discussion around a 28-day rule to supply a PMI document but if we’re not receiving an electronic confirmation then how is the TM supposed to confirm the vehicle is fit to be driven?

A) As an operator, the transport manager, responsible person or delegated individual must have access to the completed safety inspection sheet or electronic record before the vehicle returns to service. If the above cannot be met, the maintenance provider must send written confirmation that the vehicle is declared roadworthy before the vehicle returns to service. This could be as simple as a text message sent to a phone from the maintenance provider to say that the vehicle is declared roadworthy.

Judge & jury

Q) How would you recommend we record jury service for a driver?

A) The prescribed notional figures of eight hours a day or 48 hours a week do not have to be included for time off for any other reasons such as jury leave, union duties, or disciplinary suspension. This means is that they are not added to the working time calculation, and are therefore calculated as zero. The difficulty arises with union duties and jury service when calculating drivers’ hours and rest periods. The EU drivers’ rules, as defined under EC 561/2006, stipulate that a rest is ‘any uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time’. When a driver is serving doing jury service or carrying out union duties, they are clearly not free to dispose of their own time as they are under the instruction of a third party. This then leaves these types of leave in somewhat of a paradox, as in terms of the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, this is classified as a period of time where the driver is not at work, and would be classified as zero hours, but in the case of EU drivers’ hours, jury service or union duties need to be specified as ‘other work-related activities’.

Published On: 11/04/2024 17:00:00