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Basic Records They must be Correct
Page 100
Page 103
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In Addition To Being A Legal Obligation, They Can Provide The Foundation of Vehicle Costing and Traffic Control Systems
CLOSELY allied to the subject of commercial vehicle costing is the method adopted to control and record vehicle operation before the stage is reached at which this information can be quantified in terms of expenditure. In large transport ,organizations it is common practice to make a clear division between engineering and traffic records, often with separate departments as a result.. The basic engineering record is the daily vehicle sheet, often referred to as a log sheet.
Because it is a statutory obligation to record much of the information included on such sheets, it is important that newcorners to transport operation (and in particular ancillary users) should know precisely what are the legal requirements in this respect.
It is also apparent from many inquiries received from readers concerning the possibility of employing either dual-purpose vehicles or genuine vans, as an alternative to private cars, for use by sales representatives, that the, obligation to keep records is not fully understood. With the Substantial increase in the numbers •of small vans being licensed, it is appropriate to
restate the requirements as regards the keeping of recordS and the form log sheets may take.
The obligation on the holder of a carriers' licence to keep records is defined in Section 186 of the Road Traffic Act, 1960. It is his duty to keep, or cause to be kept, current records showing the time at which every driver or attendant employed by him started and finished work, together with the intervals of rest. It is also necessary to record particulars of every journey on which goods are carried, showing the greatest weights carried at any one time, together with a description and destination of the goods. In this context, a driver of a vehicle includes a person employed on work in connection with a vehicle or its load, and also the holder of the licence when acting as driver.
The holder of a carriers' licence is also required to retain such records for three months, and for a further period not exceeding six months if so required by the Licensing Authority or a chief officer of police. During these periods he must produce, when required, records for inspection by a person authorized by the Licensing Authority or a chief of police.
Whilst there is a legal obligation to record this information ,relative to hours of work, journeys and loads, the actual layout of a log sheet is not statutory, and accordingly can be adjusted to meet individual needs, providing the required information is also included. The one example of a log sheet shown here is intended for use by full-time drivers when engaged on work within a radius
of 25 miles. An alternative sheet is recommended for journey work.
When part-time drivers are employed. similar information has to be recorded and, in addition, a record of the total time spent in connection with a vehicle or load. This could be included in an
dditional column in section one between the existing columns 5) and (6).
Whilst there would be no objection, legally, to the employlent of a composite type of form suitable for use on any of he four possible occasions (i.e., full-time or part-time drivers rperating either within a 25-mile radius, or on journey work),
n practice, it would probably result in an unnecessary waste ,f expensive stationery. Additionally, the log sheet would be [wilily complicated.
In accordance with the requirement. to keep a current record. ach item must be entered on the Jog sheet as soon as possible. 7..ven before a vehicle leaves the garage, columns (1), (2). and 3), in addition to the heading, must be entered up. These elate to the name of the holder of the licence and the date
o which the recrird refers, together with the name of the driver, he date and time he last ceased work, and the time he ornmenced work. A common fault is to omit to do this when Ire vehicle has first to proceed empty to a loading point, on he erroneous assumption that neither driver nor vehicle has eally commenced work.
Similarly, the remaining details must be entered on the log heet as soon as the information becomes available, and the ecord must continue to be carried by the driver until cornaction. The driver then has to sign it, although it is not .ecessary for the attendant to . do so. Alternatively, if two 'rivers are employed on one vehicle both must sign the log h6et, assuming that only one log sheet is kept.
The driver is then required to hand over the log sheet to his mtdoyer within seven days, which allows for the employment t a weekly bag sheet if the operator finds that this arrangement ; more appropriate to the kind of work he does. Where daily 0g sheets are used, however, a driver is under no obligation to Toduce a previous day's record, even though he may be ngaged on a journey extending over two or more days.
Complications can arise as to whether the log sheet should t. -should not be kept by drivers of dual-purpose vehicles. "his is because, by definition, such vehicles can be alternatively Ised for the conveyance of either passengers or goods, and Lcensed accordingly.
Even after this distinction has been made, the precise nature
■ f.any goods carried can still affect the requirements regarding pgsheets. If such goods are limited to personal effects, tools T samples, a carriers' licence would not be necessary before a .nal-purpose vehicle could be operated. In consequence, as he requirement to keep records as set out in Section 186 of he Road Traffic Act, 1960, is placed upon the holders of arriers' licences, where a dual-purpose vehicle is not so licensed here is correspondingly no obligation to keep records.
If, however, any goods are carried for hire and reward, or a connection with a trade or business, a carriers' licence is [ceded even though quantity of goods and the mileage pera.ting may be small.
An exemption from the obligation to keep records can result a an apparent anomaly, wherebyone driver is required to keep ecords whilst another is not, even though both are engaged .n similar work with similar vehicles at the same time. This s because, under Section 186 of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, laragraph 3(b), vehicles used in the business of agriculture may h e exempt from the obligation to keep records, whilst the driver of ahaulier's vehicle Sired to do similar -work alongside! the farmer's vehicle would still have to keep -log sheets, irrespective of whether the mileage was limited to a25-nille radius or not.
As stated earlier, the precise layout of a jog sheet. is not legally determined and it is therefore important that operators should give due consideration to the praetiCal aspects of the use of log sheets, and the manner in which they could be •best fitted in to individual recording systems. Obviously,' in the interests of economy, the form' should be -reasonably .eompact,. bearing in mind .that where daily log sheets are employed even a fleet of 10 vehicles would require around 2,500 log sheets a year.
If seldom proves practical, however, t6 devise a -log 'sheet so that entries can be made on' both sides.. With the legal obligations involved, it is generally considered that the risk of omission on the reverse side would outweigh the advantage of
an admitted reduction in stationery costs. .
Many operators do, however, make use of the reverse side to record non-statutory details relative to delays, breakdowns or tyre changes. As these would, in anyevent, be only spasmodic occurrences, the objection to using the reverse side of the form would then be largely invalid. On the front of the sheet, in addition to the statutory details, a record of -daily
mileage, petrol and oil issues could also conveniently be : included.
Because a main purpose of a log sheet is to record drivers' . hours of work, it would at first appear convenient to .make use of such a sheet for compiling records from which drivers' : wages were calculated. Although in some instances this is done, in many cases it proves unsatisfactOry.. This is because wages departments would normally wish to retain' such records as authorization of wages paid. It could conflict with the: requirements that records of drivers' hoUrs. of work must be available for inspection for at least three months by an authorized person.
Apart from this aspect, if the log sheets were retained by the wages department; it may prove inconvenient, at the same time,! to make use of log sheets as a basis for the 'calculation of vehicle mileage, tonnage, fuel consumption and any other: engineering records.
For many operators, a practical compromise in the utilization of log sheets is to abstract the required infortriation frcim such sheets -on to a weekly summary devised precisely for theft particular needs. At the same time, drivers would complete and return their weekly time sheet.' This arrangement 'permits the log sheet to be kept for three months Only, and then to be destroyed. It substantially reduces the amount of storage space that would otherwise he required if some form of weekly summary had not been devised, whilst permitting separate departments to retain their appropriate records.