Q If I work three hours on Saturday morning and drive
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only 14 miles to load and 14 miles back, must I keep a record of work on that day ? Must my record of daily work on a weekday commence when I leave my employer's depot, or can I begin my log sheet when I leave a local factory?
A A driver must keep a record of each day on duty unless he is specifically exempt from doing so.
Exemptions contained in Regulation 12 of the Drivers' Hours (Goods Vehicles) (Keeping of Records) Regulations 1970 allow drivers to dispense with records in certain circumstances. Subsection (2) states, in simple terms, that if a driver drives for no more than four hours and not more than 25 miles from the vehicle's operating centre, then he need not keep a record for that period. However, he must enter in his driver's record book the date and time when the period of duty ended within the 24 hours of exemption. On an ordinary working day when records are required you must commence your record at the time at which you book on duty. If this is before you actually leave the depot then the record must commence even before you set off.
If you are stopped at a check point between your home depot and the factory concerned and you have not commenced your record sheet, you will certainly be reported for an offence.