Tachographs and the Recovery Industry
The regulations apply to recovery and goods vehicles.
E C Regulation 3820/85 Sect.11 Art4
a) Light goods vehicles (this includes vans, pick-ups and 4X4) of not more than 3.5 tonnes gross plated weight are exempt from EU tachograph regulations regarding fitment and use.
b) When light goods vehicles of not more than 3.5 tonnes gross plated weight are coupled to a goods carrying trailer or towing implement (so that the combined gross weights exceed 3.5 tonnes) then it will come within the scope of the EU tachograph regulations, and a DOT calibrated tachograph musr be fitted and used when the trailer is drawn and EU driving rules must be followed.
Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes:
a) Vehicles used for the carriage of goods, where the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle or vehicle and trailer or semi-trailer exceeds 3.5 tonnes, are required to have a tachograph fitted and in working order
b) Under Council regulation E C 3820/85 Article 4, there ate a lot of exemptions from the tachograph regulations. Item 10 of that list covers specialised breakdown vehicles.
A 'specialised breakdown vehicle' within the meaning of Article 4 (10) means a vehicle whose construction, fitments and other permanent characteristics are such that it will be used mainly for recovering vehicles that have recently been involved in an accident or have broken down for anther reason. In the case of Hamilton v. Whirelock, it was ruled that such a vehicle will benefit from the exemption whatever use is actually made of it by its owner
Domestic driver hours rules
Where a driver is exempt from EC Rules (Tachograph), domestic driving rules must be applied and written records of hours of work on a weekly record sheet must be kept.
a) A driver must not drive more than ten hours in one day The daily limit applies to time spent behind the wheel, actually driving.
b) A driver must not be on duty more than eleven hours on any working day
c) Where a driver does not drive more than four hours in each day of the week, he is exempt from the daily duty limit.
Exemption from keeping records
The drivers of the following are exempt from keeping written records:
a) Drivers of goods vehicles which do not require an operators licence.
b) Drivers of goods vehicles keeping within 50 kilometres of base and driving a maximum of four hours a day
Summary
Light goods vehicle under 3,5 tonnes towing a trailer - a tachograph is requited.
Recovery vehicle must abide by domestic driving hours but is exempted from having a tachograph and keeping written records.
Recovery vehicles working under operator licensing are exempted from having a tachograph, but must abide by domestic driving hours and keep written records.
NOTE: where a tachograph is used in a recovery vehicle to record mileage, it is the owner's responsibility to see that it is working correctly by having it checked.
Driving Licences and the Recovery Industry
The information below deals with how driving licences affect the recovery operator. I will not cover all of the regulations, but will cover only the licences that are required in the industry to drive recovery vehicles.
Grandfather rights
Those drivers who held a full car driving licence which was valid before 1st January 1997 retained the right to drive small vehicles with large trailers, category B + E goods vehicles from 3500kg to 7500kg MAM (MAM = Maximum Authorised Mass) with trailers up to a combined weight of 8250kg, category CI and Cl + E (8.25 tonnes). So for holders of a full car driving licence valid before 1st January 1997, new categories will be B + E and C + E restricted to 8.25 tonnes.
With HGVs, there are two types of licences: one is for the motor vehicle (C) and one for the trailer (E).
Full HGV (1, 2 or 3), that was valid before the 1st January 1997, are entitled to the new category C.
Full HGV 1 that was valid before the 1st January 97 receive C + E with no restriction on the E.
Full HGV 2 that was valid before 1st January 97 receive C + E with a restriction on the E licence to draw-bar combinations.
Loss of rights
Holders of a provisional licence for category C, which were valid prior to January 1st 1997, were able to continue to drive vehicles in category C + E which their licence authorises as provisional licence holders. They will be unable to take a test on such combinations after January 1st 1997 and will have to first take a category C test before moving up to a C + E test in line with staging testing introduced on that date.
Driving licence categories
(Post 1st January 97)
CATEGORY B (Minimum Age 17) Motor vehicles not exceeding 3500kg MAM and not exceeding eight passenger seats (+ driver) towing a trailer not exceeding 750kg MAM (425kg in total) or trailer exceeding 750kg MAM if the combination weight does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and the trailer MAM does not exceed the unladen weight of the motor vehicle.
Exemption: Towing a broken down or damaged vehicle from a position where it is likely to represent a road safety hazard or cause an obstruction to other road users. But only so far as is reasonably necessary so as to remove the hazard or obstruction.
Holders of a full licence before 1st January 1997 retain the entitlement to B + E, C 1 C l + E (8.25tonnes).
CATEGORY B + E Category B + trailers exceeding 750 kg MAM. New drivers must hold a category B licence and take a separate test to get category E.
CATEGORY C 1 (Minimum Age 21 and with restrictions Age 18) Motor vehicles 3500kg to 7500kg with trailer not exceeding 750kg MAM Limited to 7500kg total MAM if under 21) New drivers must hold a category B licence, take a separate test and meet higher medical conditions.
CATEGORY C l + E Category C l plus trailer exceeding 750kg MAM provided that the maximum weight of the comhination does not exceed 12000kg (under 21 years limited to 7500kg) and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the motor vehicle. New drivers must hold a category C l licence and take a further test. Holders of a licence valid prior to 1st January 1997 limited to C l + E (8.25 tonnes) unless a new test is taken.
CATEGORY C (Minimum age 21 years, 18 if on an LGV training scheme) Motor vehicle exceeding 3500kg M.A.M. plus trailers not exceeding 750kg MAM. All drivers have to take a separate test and meet higher medical condition.
CATEGORY C + E Category C plus trailer exceeding 750kg MAM. All new drivers must hold a full category C licence, take a further test, and meet higher medical conditions.
NOTE: Locomotive is a mechanically propelled vehicle which is not constructed itself to carry a load and the unladen weight exceeds 7370Kg. A Locomotive may not draw more than three trailers. A broken-down articulated vehicle is classed as one trailer when being drawn broken down, but only if it is unladen; so a laden articulated counts as two trailers.