The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005
We've singled these regs out as a special project
A set of regulations that have been with us for over 20-years now, and despite driver CPC being around for well over a decade, it seems that so many in our industry still haven't got their head's around these regs, as they continue to cause more problems for drivers and their ever suffering transport managers than any other set of regs we're aware of.
If they ain't a mess they'll certainly do until the mess gets here
They are, it must be said, a messy set of regs, written by UK Government lawyers in order to implement a 2002 directive from Brussels (remember them ?), but the problem isn't the regs themselves, the problem is the way our industry has gone about teaching them.
Most training providers incorrectly call them the Working Time Directive and bundle them into a Driver CPC course, as a hastily worked through section, most often alongside Drivers' Hours, with no meaningful explanations as to what it all means (read : they simply copy and paste from the regs).
It's no surprise therefore that drivers come away from the course still none the wiser and continue to get infringements.
Not the fault of the driver, most definitely the fault of our industry.
hgvCPC.com to the rescue - well somebody had to do it !
We have developed our own unique way of teaching these regs and have written a 3½ hour DVSA approved Driver CPC module to do so.
The reality of the situation is this : if you want to get your head around these regs once and for all, then repeatedly having a stab at it, for at most an hour or so, on a Driver CPC course possibly once in every five year cycle, is clearly not the solution, as you've no doubt already worked out.
Unfortunately the 3½ hour option (you don't think we'd write 3½ hours of this stuff if it weren't really necessary, do you ?) is the only way to do real justice to these regs and get them sorted once and for all.
This is hardcore, heavy going stuff, especially when we get to the bit about excluded hours and how they have to be calculated and recorded.
Rocket science it is not
These regs are not up there with putting a man on the moon and bringing him safely back to earth, or anything of that magnitude, they are simply a set of regulations, that once explained to you in a methodical down-to-earth fashion, will suddenly make sense, in a way they never did previously.
You'll not love 'em, you'll probably have a headache by the end of the session, but they will make sense, which means you'll belong to a small group of people in the road transport industry that have a proper understanding and working knowledge of The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, and how to remain compliant with them as you carry out your daily duties.