fa I have told my colleagues at work that a
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driver must be out from his cab in order to have his half-hour break. Could you inform me if this is so?
AThere is no legal requirement for a driver to leave his cab when taking his halfhour statutory break.
Two alternatives are in fact, open to the driver. If the break is an "off-duty" break — that is one during which the driver is not under the direct instructions of his employer to remain with the vehicle — the driver is free to choose where and how he takes his break so long as he is able to obtain rest and refreshment. Therefore if the driver chooses to do so he may take his break while sitting in the cab in a lay-by. He would show the break on his record sheet in column b.
However, if for security or other special reasons the employer requests the driver
to take packed refreshments and remain with his vehicle at all times, the driver may still legally take his break in the cab but must enter details of it in column 5 on the record sheet and count it as part of his daily total of "onduty" hours.