Work diaries, a topic of much industry and social media discussion, deserve deeper exploration. This article is the first in a series on work diaries.
Understanding and interpreting fatigue legislation isn’t easy. This article is not intended as legal advice. Please seek legal advice if needed.
For drivers of fatigue regulated heavy vehicles (weighing over 12 tonnes, combinations over 12 tonnes, or fatigue-regulated buses designed for over 12 adults including the driver), the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) fatigue provisions apply.
Let’s start with what should be a straightforward concept: the driver’s base. We all believe this must be recorded in your work diary (found on page 32), however, the legislation does allow the ability for no base to be recorded at all.
Work diaries, a topic of much industry and social media discussion, deserve deeper exploration. Image: Prime Creative MediaThe definition for base, of the driver of a heavy vehicle is:
1.
The base of the driver of a heavy vehicle, in relation to particular work—
(a) is the place from which the driver normally does the work; but
(b) is, for the purposes of Chapter 6, the garage address of the vehicle if—
(i) the vehicle is a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle; and
(ii)
the driver is required under Part 6.4, in relation to that particular work, to keep a work diary and to record the location of the driver’s base in the work diary, and has not done so.
Note –
The driver of a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle may not be required under Part 6.4, in relation to particular work, to keep a work diary and to record the location of the driver’s base in the work diary, if, for example—
• the driver is undertaking 100km work under standard hours
• the driver is working under a work diary exemption
2.
or a driver who is a self-employed driver and an employed driver at different times, the driver may have one base as a self-employed driver under paragraph 1 and another base as an employed driver under that paragraph.
3.
For a driver who has 2 or more employers, the driver may have a different base in relation to each employer under paragraph 1.
Let’s look at some examples:
Example 1: Mary, a self-employed truck driver, works from her home address, 490 Taylors Road, Skye, Victoria.
When working for herself, the garage address of the truck is her base at 490 Taylors Road, Skye.
Sometimes, she does casual work for ABC Trucking driving their truck, so her base would be 120 Greens Road, Dandenong. Mary would need to note the date and ABC Trucking base in her work diary when working for ABC Trucking, and then note the date and her home address base when working for herself.
Now, only those with special trucks probably have an actual garage to keep them in (we’re looking at some of you 9oh drivers…) but there is a definition of the garage address in the HVNL:
Garage address, of a heavy vehicle, means—
(a) for a heavy vehicle normally kept at a depot when not in use—the principal depot of the vehicle; or
(b) for a heavy vehicle not normally kept at a depot when not in use—the address of the place of business or residence at which the vehicle is normally kept when not in use.
Let’s look at a trickier
example.
Example 2: Tom lives at Goulburn. He is employed by ABC Trucking in Dandenong and drives their truck, which he keeps at his home on Sundays.
When Tom takes leave for holidays, the truck is parked at the ABC Trucking
depot, where it might be used by other drivers until Tom
returns.
On Mondays, Tom drives the truck from Goulburn to ABC Trucking at 120 Greens Road, Dandenong, completing deliveries along the way. Working out of the Dandenong depot all week, he sleeps in the truck or stays with his brother nearby.
On Saturdays, he drives the truck back to Goulburn, completing deliveries along the way. He completes the work/rest pages when travelling to/from Goulburn but does not complete the work/rest pages while driving around Dandenong, as this is within the 100km radius of the garage address of the truck.
In this example, Tom could leave the base in his work diary blank, as the
garage address can be used to identify his base. Clause 1(b) of the definition takes effect, specifically 1(b)(ii) which is “the garage address of the vehicle” where the driver has not written in the base on page 32 and he is working within 100km of the base.
This makes it difficult to prove roadside, but is not a breach. Having said that, Tom would not be able to have any entries at all in the base section on page 32 for clause 1(b)(ii) to be effective.
Our next article in this series will focus on when you should be recording your work/rest breaks.
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The post What actually is the truck driver’s base? appeared first on Big Rigs.