The Working Time Directive
73. The Transport Committee considered the safety
standards of the road haulage industry in detail in 1996.[248]
One of the Committee's principal concerns then was driver fatigue,
its role in accidents, whether the regulations governing drivers'
hours were appropriate, and whether those regulations were adequately
enforced. The Committee concluded that domestic regulations governing
drivers' hours should be phased out in favour of the "rather
stricter" European Union regulations,[249]
that the "abuse of drivers' hours [regulations] is undesirable
for social, safety and commercial reasons",[250]
and that if, as many witnesses to the inquiry had argued, the
drivers' hours regulations should be further tightened, the Government
should argue the case for doing so at European level.[251]
74. Although the Government agreed that "it
would be desirable to phase out the domestic drivers' hours regulations
in favour of the EU regulations",[252]
it has not proved possible, in part for legal reasons, to do so.
Consequently, drivers' hours regulations have remained as they
were in 1996: that is, that European Union regulations govern
all drivers of heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes,[253]
as well as long-distance coach drivers, whilst domestic regulations
cover bus drivers on local routes, and lorry drivers not covered
by European Union legislation.[254]
The two regulations set a number of limits for drivers' hours.
Table: Rules governing drivers' hours[255]
| | UK rules
| European Union rules |
| Continuous driving (max) | No limit
| 4½ hours (after which a 45 minute break must be taken
|
| Daily driving (max) | 10 hours
| 9 hours (10 hours twice a week) |
| Fortnightly driving | No limit
| 90 hours |
| Daily rest (min) | None, but there is a daily duty limit of 11 hours
| 11 hours (reducible to 9 hours 3 times a week)
|
| Weekly rest (min) | None |
45 hours (after 6 days) |
75. Most of our witnesses believed that the rules
governing drivers' hours were already sufficiently strict. The
Road Haulage Association told us that although it sought better
enforcement of drivers' hours, "the current regulations are
certainly adequate for the purpose".[256]
Lord Whitty told us that "the drivers' hours restrictions
are probably roughly appropriate".[257]
The Transport and General Workers' Union, however, did not agree:
it pointed out that the European Union rules permit drivers to
be on duty for up to 13 hours a day, and to drive for nine hours,
which, it argued, left them at risk of becoming fatigued.[258]
It argued instead that drivers should work no more than 10 hours
each day, only 8 hours of which should be spent behind the wheel.[259]
76. Although it is not currently proposed that the
regulations governing drivers' hours should themselves be amended,
they would be affected by the application of the Working Time
Directive to the road haulage industry.[260]
The Directive limits the working week to 48 hours, sets a limit
of an average of 8 hours in each twenty-four which night-workers
can be required to work, establishes a right for all workers to
11 hours rest a day, and a right to a day off each week, and to
four weeks paid leave each year.[261]
The road haulage industry, along with other transport sectors,
was initially excluded from the Directive,[262]
because it was acknowledged that it would need unique rules to
take account of its special circumstances. The European Commission
has since developed proposals which would apply the Directive
to the road haulage industry, and which are currently being discussed
by the Transport Working Group. The result of applying the Directive
to the road haulage industry, Lord Whitty pointed out, was that
"drivers' hours restrictions ... will be affected by the
restrictions on total working time which will de facto
bring down the driving time".[263]
77. The Transport and General Workers' Union told
us that it was "most supportive of the Working Time Directive
and looks forward to its application to transport workers, including
lorry drivers".[264]
It said that the Directive would reduce ill-health amongst lorry
drivers, reduce the number of road accidents attributable to fatigue,
and help to promote fair competition by compelling all operators
to obey equal time limits. The Union was however concerned that
the United Kingdom Government currently supported a variation
to the Directive which would exclude self-employed drivers from
its provisions, and that employees could volunteer to waive the
provisions of the Directive if they wished: it said that these
were "two fundamental areas we believe that will considerably
weaken the objective of the Working Time Directive".[265]
The Managing Director of the Reed Boardall Group described the
prospect of self-employed drivers being excluded from the Directive
as "an absolutely fundamental error ... When people are talking
about fatigue they say we must cut the hours but [the current
proposal implies that] if you are self-employed it does not matter
... [and will result in] a wholesale shift into owner-drivers.
That cannot be good news".[266]
78. Objections were also raised to the proposals
to apply the Working Time Directive to the road haulage industry
on other grounds. The Shadow Road Haulage Forum told us that it
estimated that the Directive would add 8.5 per cent to labour
costs, and 3 per cent to total costs.[267]
The Freight Transport Association said that the Directive would
reduce the productivity of drivers by 20 per cent.[268]
The Road Haulage Association complained that the ways in which
it was proposed that the Directive would apply to road haulage
were "much more stringent than those prevailing in other
industries or transport sectors, for no demonstrable reason ...
the night work provisions will seriously reduce efficiency and
cost-effectiveness in road transport and lead to greater use of
the already heavily-congested roads during the day".[269]
Exel Logistics agreed: it said that "restrictions on night
working under the Working Time Directive would be counter-productive
to efficiency ... it will push some journeys, at present made
during the nighttime, onto days".[270]
When the company gave oral evidence, it reiterated the point,
telling us that "a reduction in the nighttime working hours
would actually push more vehicles onto the road during the day-time,
especially at the time when everybody else wants to use the roads,
between six and nine in the morning".[271]
79. We strongly support the application of the
Working Time Directive to the road haulage industry. However,
although we assume that the exemption of self-employed drivers
from the provisions of the Directive is intended to minimise the
administrative burden on them, it is obvious that such drivers
suffer as much from fatigue as others, and thus that they would
equally benefit from reduced working hours. Moreover, if such
an exemption is permitted, it seems certain that increasing numbers
of drivers will become self-employed, thereby undermining the
effectiveness of the Directive. We are also concerned that restrictions
on night-working under the Directive will in turn restrict nighttime
deliveries, and thus will reduce the industry's flexibility and
increase congestion during the day. We recommend that the Government
re-examine these aspects of the current proposals, to ensure that
the application of the Working Time Directive to the road haulage
industry is not counter-productive.
188 
