Tachograph limits before returning to depot
You drive a category C truck under AETR rules. Your tachograph record for the current day shows: start at 06:00; driving 2 h 30 min; break 15 min; driving 2 h 15 min; break 30 min; driving 2 h 00 min; break 45 min; driving 2 h 00 min. It is now 16:15. You are 30 minutes from the depot. You have already used both permitted 10-hour daily driving extensions this week. Your weekly rest is not yet due. The traffic is heavy and the depot gate closes at 17:00. The vehicle is loaded, and no relief driver is available at the depot. You must decide how much driving time remains, whether you can reach the depot legally, and what to do if you cannot.
1. Calculate the driving time used and remaining, and state whether the 15 + 30 minute breaks are valid.
Read the worked answer
Driving time is 2:30 + 2:15 + 2:00 + 2:00 = 8 h 45 min. The daily limit is 9 h, and both 10-hour extensions have been used, so only 15 min of driving remain.
The 15-minute break followed by the 30-minute break counts as a valid split break of 45 minutes, provided the 15-minute part came first; it did. The later 45-minute break is a full break. Therefore the break record is not the problem. The problem is the remaining driving time: 15 min is less than the 30 min needed to reach the depot.
2. Can you reach the depot before the gate closes? What is the legal and safe plan?
Read the worked answer
No. If you drive the 30 minutes to the depot, you would record 9 h 15 min of driving, exceeding the 9-hour daily limit by 15 minutes, because you cannot use a 10-hour extension again this week. The gate closing at 17:00 is not a legal justification.
You must stop before you exceed 9 h, at a safe parking place, and take the required daily rest. A 15-minute drive from now would bring you to 9 h; you cannot then continue. Plan to stop within the remaining 15 minutes, secure the vehicle, record the end of duty and the daily rest. Notify the operator that the delivery will be late. Do not tamper with the tachograph or record a false break.