PermitToTravel
Established Member
spawned from discussion in http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=154581
It's quite surprising that bus operators can split bus services to take advantage of the (incredibly lax!) GB driving hours regs, even though they're greater than the 50km route length limit required for these rules to apply.
The main stipulations of the EU driving hours regs:
In contrast, the GB driving hours regulations:
I think it's remarkably generous of the EU to allow us to allow operators of local stopping bus services to work to the latter set of rules. In particular, an 8h30 turnaround from booking off to booking on is ludicrous and brutal - in fact, the Working Time Directive mandates 11 hours for most workers (and this can't be opted out of!), except that workers in road transport are for some bizarre reason exempt! Most office workers would not agree to work those hours, even when their tired mistakes are never going to result in deaths!
Lorry drivers, carrying potatoes around, work to the first set of rules. For some reason, it's been decided that drivers of local buses, carrying humans around, work to the second set. Why on earth is it allowed for operators of coaches and long distance buses (whose drivers spend most of their days driving on dreary boring motorways, quite well known for sending people to sleep) to opt themselves out of these rules by pretending that their service is actually two separate ones, fooling absolutely nobody?
It's quite surprising that bus operators can split bus services to take advantage of the (incredibly lax!) GB driving hours regs, even though they're greater than the 50km route length limit required for these rules to apply.
The main stipulations of the EU driving hours regs:
- drivers can drive for up to 4h30 before they must take a 45 minute break
- drivers can only drive for 9 hours per day (extendable to 10 hours twice a week)
- drivers must have 11 hours from booking off to booking on (reducable to 9 hours thrice a week)
- drivers must have an unbroken 45 hours off duty every week (although up to 21 hours from this can be "borrowed" from the next week, if and only if it is then "paid back")
In contrast, the GB driving hours regulations:
- drivers can drive for up to 5h30 before they must take a 30 minute break
- drivers can drive for up to 10 hours per day
- drivers must have 10 hours from booking off to booking on (reducable to 8h30 thrice a week!)
- drivers must have a day off duty, every fortnight
I think it's remarkably generous of the EU to allow us to allow operators of local stopping bus services to work to the latter set of rules. In particular, an 8h30 turnaround from booking off to booking on is ludicrous and brutal - in fact, the Working Time Directive mandates 11 hours for most workers (and this can't be opted out of!), except that workers in road transport are for some bizarre reason exempt! Most office workers would not agree to work those hours, even when their tired mistakes are never going to result in deaths!
Lorry drivers, carrying potatoes around, work to the first set of rules. For some reason, it's been decided that drivers of local buses, carrying humans around, work to the second set. Why on earth is it allowed for operators of coaches and long distance buses (whose drivers spend most of their days driving on dreary boring motorways, quite well known for sending people to sleep) to opt themselves out of these rules by pretending that their service is actually two separate ones, fooling absolutely nobody?