I help lots of drivers who’ve been breached for errors in their work diary. I find there are a couple of common mistakes that cause most of the problems. Thankfully, they’re mistakes that are easy to avoid with a good understanding of the work diary rules.
By far, the most common mistake I see is drivers miscalculating their 24 hour period. A small miscalculation can lead to drivers being well over their allowable hours, resulting in having to attend court, large fines and demerit points.
I hope these few tips will help you avoid trouble.
Calculating the 24 hour period
The first step is to understand where to start counting your 24 hour period from.
The period is counted forward from the end of every ‘relevant major rest break’ applicable to the 24 hour period in your hours option, i.e. the minimum continuous rest break the law requires you to take for a 24 hour period.
The National Driver Work Diary instructions contain a list on page 22 outlining where drivers operating under each of the hour options should start counting their 24 hour period from.
For example, solo drivers working on standard hours need to take a minimum continuous seven hour break in 24 hours, so they start counting their 24 hour periods from the end of their seven hour or more rest breaks. However, two-up drivers working on standard hours are required to take a minimum five hour continuous rest break in a 24 hour period, so they start counting their 24 hour periods from the end of their five hour or more rest breaks.
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Fitting in required continuous rest breaks
Once you’ve identified when a 24 hour period starts and finishes, it’s important to make sure you don’t exceed the allowable work hours and also that you fit in all required rest breaks. I know that sounds obvious, but a very common error is not fitting the entirety of the minimum continuous rest break into the 24 hour period.
Often I see cases where a driver will start a long break close to the end of their 24 hour period. The start of the break falls within the 24 hour period, but the end is outside of the 24 hour period. For example, a driver who is required to take a seven hour continuous rest break within a 24 hour period works for 20 hours into the period then stops working, resting for 10 hours. Although they’ve had more than seven hours of rest, only the first four hours counts towards that 24 hour period. This put them in breach of the rest requirements.
It’s a good idea at the start of your journey to make a note when you need to stop working for the day to fit in your required continuous rest break. That way you can avoid losing track of time if things go off schedule.
Starting a second 24-hour clock
The other very common mistake I see is thinking that taking a second ‘relevant major rest break’ resets the clock. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
If you take another ‘relevant major rest break’ within a 24 hour period, what actually happens is that the first clock keeps running and you also start a second clock that runs concurrently. You need to make sure you comply with your work and rest hours for both of the 24 hour periods you now have running.
For example, if a solo standard hour driver’s 24 hour period starts at 10am on Monday, they need to make sure they don’t work over the allowable hours and take the required breaks between 10am on Monday and 10am on Tuesday. If the driver were to stop work between midday and 7pm on Monday, they have now triggered a second 24 hour clock. Now they need to make sure they comply with the work and rest requirements between both 10am Monday to 10am Tuesday and also between 7pm Monday to 7pm Tuesday.
This mistake often results in drivers working over their allowable hours. The reason for this is that some of the time from the second day counts towards the first. While a driver might have worked under their allowable hours in the first part of the trip, a couple of hours from the second part of the trip might still fall within the original 24 hour period.
The best thing to do is, after any relevant major rest break, make a note of when your 24 hour period ends. If you take another long rest break, make sure to keep track of both 24 hour periods.
Check the NHVR’s working
My final tip is to check NHVR’s calculations if you do receive a Court Attendance Notice or fine. Recently I have seen an example where the NHVR officer calculated the 24 hour period incorrectly. Using the correct calculations, the driver was compliant with their hours for that period. Had we not carefully checked, he might have copped a fine and demerit points for an offence he did not commit.
If you do find yourself breached for your work diary hours, my team at Ainsley Law are always happy to help you understand what’s alleged and check if the NHVR has made a mistake.
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