Record Keeping
Introduction
The information within the other pages of this section should be sufficient to assist you in gaining an understanding of exactly what's
required to comply with the WTD and arrive at this aspect of the directive - Calculating and recording working time.
Whether you choose to use the government default periods or choose to enter into a workforce agreement is a decision that you alone
can take, in the best interests of your operation. However, whatever periods you decide upon, the process of calculation will undoubtedly
remain the same.
Maintaining Records
Maintaining records for working time should be undertaken in the same manner in which vehicle or staff records are kept, in a logical and
easy to access manner. However, if you decide to maintain records electronically, we believe these should be maintained as follows:
- All electronic records should be backed up to a CD rom upon each weeks completion
- Each weeks data should be printed off and clipped to all timesheets and/or clocking in/out data sheets used in the calculations
- Keep the 'hard copy' data in A4 folders marked with what it applies to; ie, WTD Data from date to date. This is particularly useful if you are collating data for more than one depot
Calculating WTD Data
As we've explained previously, It isn't necessary for you to worry about undertaking your own WTD calculations, you can use the
services of an outside source, such as the FTA, RHA, a tachograph analysis company or a transport consultant to do it for you. However, if
you have the resources or operate a small operation, it will enevitably be cheaper to do this yourself.
Calculating working time is fairly straightforward. However, if you decide to maintain your records using a spreadsheet, it must be remembered that spreadsheets calculate in decimal places as a percentage of 100, and whereas an hour is made up of 60 minutes, recording hours and minutes on a spreadsheet is not the same as inputting hours with the minutes re-calculated as a percentage - see example below.
Example
If a driver completes the following duty times Monday to Friday after deducting breaks and POA's
- Monday - 8hours 23minutes
- Tuesday - 7hours 56minutes
- Wednesday - 8hours 18minutes
- Thursday - 9hours 3minutes
- Friday - 7hours 19minutes
If you inputted his/her working time calculations into a spreadsheet as hours and minutes, they would return as
40.19 Hours.
However, if you inputted his/her working time calculations into a spreadsheet with the minutes re-calculated as a
percentage of an hour (as they should be), they would return as 40.98 Hours.
By inputting the example data (above) as hours/minutes would mean your calculations would be incorrect and under calculated by
48 minutes per week, therefore if this mobile worker were to work these exact times every week over a 17 week reference period, your
calculations would be out at the end of the period by 13.6 hours - see image.
Further Reading
If you wish to read more in depth detail on the Road Transport Working Time Directive, you can do so by selecting the links below, which
will take you to the Department for Transports website where the destination page is specific to the subject.
