If you are a truck operator or haulage company, you will have many people whom you employ to drive for a living. And you‘ll be aware that you must comply with several different regulations and have the correct policies and procedures in place to protect the health and safety of your drivers. One of these is around holding certain records about your drivers.
Here we look at what records must a business hold on a driver, how long to keep them and regulations to comply with.
What records must a business hold on a driver?
If you employ people to drive for work, then you must check and ensure that they have the correct driving licence and training to drive the specific vehicle you are asking them to. You will also need to ensure that they hold and maintain their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC). You’ll also need to keep a record of the daily checks which HGV drivers are required to complete.
In addition to this, if you employ people to drive for a living then you must ensure that they comply with rules on driving hours and working time rules. You can find full details of driver hours regulations and which you drivers will need to comply with on the gov.uk site. You can also find full details of the working time rules your drivers may need to comply with.
Records your business must keep for driver hours
If you employ drivers (or other mobile workers) then there are certain records and processes that you must follow with regards to driving hours
- keep drivers’ hours records for at least one year
- make sure they are properly trained and understand the rules
- organise their time so that they can follow the rules
- check your drivers’ hours records and data
- monitor your workers’ working time
Logbooks or tachographs should be used to monitor driving hours and show compliance with the rules.
What is ‘working time’ in haulage?
The gov.uk site defines working time as ‘any activities carried out in connection with the transport operation count as work, for example, driving, loading/unloading and walkaround checks count as work.’
If you or your drivers drive under the EU or GB domestic drivers’ hours rules, you also need to follow the working time rules and keep records which fulfil your obligations under the relevant legislation. Which legislation applies will depend on which rules your drivers are operating under.
Records your business must keep for working time rules
As an employer you are required to keep a record of your employees working time, typically using tachograph records.
For full details of the rules which apply to your drivers and which records and regulations you will need to comply with, refer to the guide produced by the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency looking at Drivers’ hours and tachographs: goods vehicles.
It is important that employers and businesses who operate HGV’s keep a focus on Health and Safety to ensure that the working culture promotes a safe and responsible working environment for drivers. A part of this will include making sure you have adequate HGV insurance in place so do talk to us today if you have any questions about your insurance needs on 020 8290 9099 or email us at commercial.motor@anthonyjones.com.
