Owner-drivers lose on Mersey Tachos a must on waste
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• Waste carriers working on private sector contracts who believed they were exempt from tachograph laws should install tachos immediately, says the Department of Transport.
The warning follows clarification from Brussels that only local council refuse collectors and contractors working for public authorities are exempt from hours regulations. Previously, most waste collection firms believed they were (.empt. Brussels officials Iso indicate that only lorries carrying waste on journeys not exceeding a 50km radius from the place where the vehicle is normally based are exempt.
The interpretation follows two recent rulings from the European Court of Justice on drivers' hours regulations and refuse collection and disposal vehicles.
"The clarification can be seen as generally more restrictive but this is now the law of the land and one has to deal with it," says Owen Thomas, manager of road transport law at the Freight Transport Association.