Defining the Term "Driver"
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It. is Important to Consider Exactly What is Meant by "Driver," and How Various Classes of Employee are Affected by the Restrictions on Driving Hours IN its recent memorandum regarding The Goods Vehicle (Keeping of Records) Regulations, 14,38, the Ministry of Transport refers to two classes of driver, the full-lime and the part-time, dividing these again into men engaged in collection and/or delivery work within 25 miles' radius from the loading base, and others engaged on any work other than collection and/or delivery within this radius,
Restrictions on Drivers' Hours. it is particularly pointed out that the term " driver " covers more than the work of actually sitting at the wheel of the vehicle and driving it along the road. Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, which, as amended, contains the law regarding the limitation of time during which drivers of goods vehicles may remain continuously on duty, provides that 'any time spent by a driver on other work in connection with a vehicle or the load carried thereby . . shall be reckoned as time spent in driving." For example, if a driver spends half an hour in making the vehicle ready tobe taken out, this must be counted as time spent in driving; any time that is spent in helping to unload a vehicle must also be counted.
In the case of a part-time driver or a statutory attendant, the work would include time spent by him behind the counter or in the warehouse, or on any other kind of work performed by him under the terms of his employment. Thus, if a parttime driver begins work at 8 a.m. this is the time which has to be recorded, even if he does not begin to drive the• vehicle until, say, 11.30 a.m. Similarly, the time of ceasing work is the hour at which the part-time driver finishes work of any description which he has performed under the terms of his employment.
What Constitutes a Driver.
It will be noted that, so far, there has been no real definition of what constitutes a " driver " to whom the law as to restriction of driving hours applies.
In our opinion, there are strong grounds for contending that a man who is employed as a mechanic, and whose principal work is the manufacture or repair of motor vehicles, is not a person driving a motor vehicle within the meaning of Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, as amended by the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, so long as his driving of such vehicles is merely ancillary to his work of making or repairing them.
It is obvious that the primary object of the Section is to restrict the hours during which a .driver shall be allowed to control a commercialmotor vehicle, and that the provisions of sub-section (2) (b) are merely ancillary to the general provisions of the Section. That subsection refers to time spent by the driver ot a public-service vehicle while on a journey, and the proviso to sub-section (4) excuses a breach of the Section which is due to unavoidable delay in the completion of a journey..
Driving as Incidental Work.
We consider that it was never intended that the Section should apply to a man whose driving is only incidental to his main employment.
We do not consider, for example, that it is intended that the Section should apply to a salesman who is employed to sell vehicles in a showroom and who merely drives in order to demonstrate a vehicle to a prospective customer; likewise, it would appear not to apply to a man who, after repairing a vehicle, takes it out on test, whether fpr-this purpose it be loaded or unloaded.
We are of the opinion that a reasonable test as to whether a man comes within this section would be whether, for the purposes of the conditions which have recently been laid down for wages, a man would be regarded as coming within them on the ground that he is a motor driver.
The position is certainly one that needs elucidating, for it is possible that if the point came before a Divisional Court upon an appeal from the decision of a magistrate, that Court might take the narrower view that anyone who drives a commercial-motor vehicle on any occasion is a driver within the meaning of Section 19 of the Act.
Records of the working time of a man who accompanies the driver as a loader, but who does not actually drive, do not have to be kept, but if he be a statutory attendant (meaning the extra man or men required by law to be employed in addition to the driver on certain vehicles, or when trailers are drawn), then records have to be kept. This does" not include a driver's mate or a van guard engaged solely because the employer thinks it desirable to have two men on a vehicle, but if the extra man ever drives the vehicle he will automatically become a "driver," and it will be necessary for records of his work to be kept.
It is our view, too, that if, say, a mechanic is temporarily engaged in driving a vehicle for hire or reward, or in the ordinary course of its normal employment, then he would be regarded as a part-lime driver, and he would, during this period of special employment, have to conform with the law in every respect.
It should be remembered, however, that in such circumstances the temporary driver will be 'expected to possess the appropriate licence as a driver if he is to be in control of a heavy vehicle.
This raiSes another point of interest as to whether a mechanic who takes a heavy vehicle out on test will require to possess such special licence, and, presumably, this will be the case; also he will have to conform with the restrictions as to age limits.
Interpreting the Law..
It may be that the Minister will think fit to issue further information which will help to dispel any doubts on the points which we have raised, but it must always be remembered that whilst the Minister may formulate the laws which are sanctioned by Parliament, he is not in a position to interpret them. Such interpretation can only be made in a, Court of Law,