Tracker is urging haulage companies, fleet managers and professional drivers to be prepared for the New Drivers Hours Rules that came into force on April 11, 2007.

The company firmly believes the significant changes will bring sweeping changes to drivers’ working practices and say the new legislation means HGV and LCV operators cannot ignore fleet management systems in order to keep their vehicles wheels moving.

Mark McKeever, commercial manager at Tracker, said: “The new rules bring huge changes to all who operate within the industry.

“Tracker’s Reporter Vehicle Asset Management (VAM) provides the precise support service operators need to ensure their operations run smoothly and, above all, within the letter of the law.

“While many customers turn to us to help improve the efficiency of their fleet, the strict new laws put a far tighter grip on the number of hours a driver can sit behind the wheel of a vehicle. We provide that information at the click of a mouse.”

Enforced by the European Union, the new laws bring tighter restrictions on the number of hours a driver can operate within a week and two-week period, they regulate breaks between driving patterns as well as increasing the amount of daily and weekly rests a driver can take. It also affects the practice of multi-manning.

The new regulation includes changes in the following areas:

o Weekly driving limit of 56 hours will be the maximum permitted. This has not been specified before.

o Accumulated driving time during any two consecutive weeks shall not exceed 90 hours. This is currently referred to as “any one fortnight”.

o Breaks from driving will need to be taken more frequently. It is currently acceptable to take breaks in three periods of 15 minutes during, or immediately after, accumulating four and a half hours driving. It has previously been legal to drive almost nine hours with only 15 minutes rest. A 15-minute break will still be permitted, but this must be followed by a break of at least 30 minutes before four and a half hours driving time has been completed.

o Daily rest. Uninterrupted daily rest of 11 hours is required. This maybe reduced to no less than nine hours per day up to three times between any two-weekly rest periods. No compensation is required.

o Split daily rest. A 12 hours daily rest period can be taken in two periods if the driver has access to a bunk. The first period must be at least three hours and the second must be at least nine hours.

o Weekly rest rules will change. The option to reduce to 36 hours will be removed. In any two consecutive weeks a driver will be able to take either two (regular) rests of 45 hours or one regular rest and one reduced rest of no less than 24 hours, irrespective of location.

o Multi-manning currently requires at least two drivers to be with a vehicle during the whole period of driving and during each period of 30 hours each driver must have a rest period of no less than eight hours. The new regulation changes the requirements above and permits the vehicle to be driven for the first hour without any additional driver present. It also increases the minimum daily rest requirement to nine hours.

o Ferry crossings currently allow rest periods to be interrupted once, provided part of the rest is taken on land, the interruption is no longer than an hour and the total rest period is increased by two hours as compensation. The new regulation permits a daily rest of 11 hours, which can be interrupted not more than twice, totalling no more than one hour’s interruption. No compensation required.

For more information about Tracker’s VAM system, log on to www.TRACKERVAM.com as a guest or telephone 01895 455 045.