The current situation with COVID-19 has caused several changes to be made to regulations for drivers and haulage operators. We have summarised these in the sections below.
COVID-19
COVID-19 - Drivers Hours
The Department for Transport has issued a guidance document explaining the temporary relaxation of the enforcement of the drivers’ hours rules for delivery of essential items. It reads:
Transport Manager Furlough
The Traffic Commissioner has issued the following guidance on furloughing a transport manager:
Tachograph Calibrations
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic the DVSA have decided to suspend periodic tachograph calibrations and inspections on vehicles.
Driver Licence renewals - medicals
The process is proving extremely problematic as existing medical appointments are being cancelled or medicals can not be booked. The DVSA have suggested that:
Professional driver requirements
The Government has announced temporary changes to professional driver requirements as part of its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
D4 medical suspension, driver hours and motorway services updates
We have received the following from the Department for Transport
Recording Furlough for Tachograph and WTD purposes
It is important that any furlough time for a driver is accurately recorded in your drivers’ hours and WTD records. This will also enable you to potentially reduce a driver’s average working week calculation.
Business Development - Cross Sector Collaboration
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport is asking all Operators with available vehicles/drivers/warehousing to register on a database to match organisations together to meet current demand. This database has been included in gov.uk communications and could be a useful business development opportunity for you. See link and detail below. (The FTA is also creating a similar database for its current and new members )
Heavy Vehicle Testing, further exemptions and ADR
Following on from a suspension of MOT testing due to COVID-19, DVSA has announced that from 4 July 2020 it will restart testing for heavy vehicles in England and Wales.