Manual chart marking: 1
Page 26
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T feel very strongly about 1 any information which can be misleading in our industry. The answer in Any Questions "Chart marks" (CM ]1-17 September) and also in bold red print on the page 1 think is incorrect.
I am a LGV/PCV driving instructor and try to pass on the correct up-to-date information, I try to get copies of the Department of Transport booklet GV262 from the Vehicle Inspectorate for my trainees.
It clearly states on page 11 that manual entries should be made when the chart cannot be left in the vehicle. And paragraph 33 says manual entries are usually on the reverse side but can be made anywhere provided they are clear and do not obliterate other recordings. I did confirm this with an enforcement officer at the West Midland Traffic Office a few years ago.
He also said you don't have to put your surname first then your first name on the centre field.
I am known as Brian Evans, not Evans Brian, and charts are not kept in alphabetical order. 1 know this is only a minor problem but if a person has a long surname the space is limited on the chart.
1 hope this point can be cleared up.
Brian Evans, Birmingham.
Recovery conditions
T work on the motorway
contraflows and A roads as a recovery driver. I have an 1-IGV Class 1 and recovery qualifications In your magazine the legal pages include reports on people and firms breaking the law regarding, ie, conditions of vehicle and hours of work. I would like to bring to your attention the working conditions of recovery drivers.
Drivers' pay is between £200 and £300 per week for a seven-day, 24-hour call-out. Some may get time off with pay but then the wages are lower. There is no double time nor time and a half. No pay for bank holidays, whether you work or not. If the job finishes you are laid off. You might get double pay for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
I have been doing this job for five years full-time and five years part-time before that and it has not altered in that time. Government legislation comes and goes, but while rates for normal drivers rise, nothing is done for the recovery firms.
The Highways Agency says the repairs or widening go on different rates, but it must know what they are with the prices conractors put in.
D Bealey, Doncaster.
Sight and sound
ith reference to the arti cle in Commercial Motor (CM 21-27 August) on a driver who recently obtained his LGV licence and is profoundly deaf.
I was refused a provisional LGli licence a few years ago as I failed the medical on eye. sight in one eye, although I have perfect sight in the other eye. I do not understand how being profoundly deaf is any less of a handicap than I have.
Since my application was refused I have been employed for eight years driving a 7.5-tonne vehicle, without incident. Any information or contacts who would be able to advise me on how to successfully reapply would be gratefully received.
Alan Lee.