[inflating]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17564277

They can now do 11 hours per day instead of 9, until Thursday.

(HGVs have cab tachometers to measure driving time, these are inspected by various bodies including the traffic police.)

This is to help refill the filling stations.

A tired fuel tanker driver is of course nothing to worry about, just driving around with potentially a huge explosive fireball through quiet areas such as motorways, town and city centres should cause no need to be concerned especially as other road users, particularly those from the continent hauling their own loads, are always so professional and considerate. Tanker drivers are, after all, Advanced-level drivers, and as such are fully immune to fatigue or tiredness. This is a totally risk-free thing to do, well done all involved in taking this intelligent decision!

This post has been edited by inflating: 30 March 2012 - 02:46 PM

[Russe11]

inflating, on 30 March 2012 - 02:45 PM, said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17564277

They can now do 11 hours per day instead of 9, until Thursday.

(HGVs have cab tachometers to measure driving time, these are inspected by various bodies including the traffic police.)

This is to help refill the filling stations.

A tired fuel tanker driver is of course nothing to worry about, just driving around with potentially a huge explosive fireball through quiet areas such as motorways, town and city centres should cause no need to be concerned especially as other road users, particularly those from the continent hauling their own loads, are always so professional and considerate. Tanker drivers are, after all, Advanced-level drivers, and as such are fully immune to fatigue or tiredness. This is a totally risk-free thing to do, well done all involved in taking this intelligent decision!

double time no doubt, bit ironic considering it was saftey and working conditions they voted to strike for.

its reported its only time and a half, on typical £17 a hour that £25.5 a hour, so that means working longer hours is compleately acceptable now!

This post has been edited by Russe11: 30 March 2012 - 03:51 PM

[Son of Taeper]

inflating, on 30 March 2012 - 02:45 PM, said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17564277

They can now do 11 hours per day instead of 9, until Thursday.

(HGVs have cab tachometers to measure driving time, these are inspected by various bodies including the traffic police.)

This is to help refill the filling stations.

A tired fuel tanker driver is of course nothing to worry about, just driving around with potentially a huge explosive fireball through quiet areas such as motorways, town and city centres should cause no need to be concerned especially as other road users, particularly those from the continent hauling their own loads, are always so professional and considerate. Tanker drivers are, after all, Advanced-level drivers, and as such are fully immune to fatigue or tiredness. This is a totally risk-free thing to do, well done all involved in taking this intelligent decision!

Lol,
There is no restriction on the hours I work and I can assure you some of the stuff I do is way more dangerous than driving around with a few thousand gallons of fuel.

Let's get this into perspective though.
The fuel requires oxygen to burn right?
Anyone ever washed and flushed a fuel tank in order to fix a leak?
It doesn't matter how long you soak it, it will still take a spark.
So the thousands driving around on empty tanks is way more dangerous than a tanker driver with a full tank.

Need to remember the tanker driver has the odd fire extinguisher as well, how many car drivers carry one?

Getting back to the first line of your post though, I have a pretty good idea when I'm tired. Some days it's 24 hours after I wake up, and some days it's a lot less. I know when to pull over though.

[inflating]

Russe11, on 30 March 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:

double time no doubt, bit ironic considering it was saftey and working conditions they voted to strike for.its reported its only time and a half, on typical £17 a hour that £25.5 a hour, so that means working longer hours is compleately acceptable now!

Excellent points in your post, why didn't I think of that!

[whitevanman]

OP reads like something from Mumsnet.

Do you think letting the pumps run dry is the "risk-free" option. Letting the drivers work an extra hour seems like an eminently sensible thing to do.

Next we could try letting normal lorry drivers drive tankers too. Unless you really believe that tanker drivers are somehow super-human and any relaxation of the rules will result in the uk going up in flames?

[inflating]

whitevanman, on 30 March 2012 - 06:04 PM, said:

OP reads like something from Mumsnet.

Do you think letting the pumps run dry is the "risk-free" option. Letting the drivers work an extra hour seems like an eminently sensible thing to do.

Next we could try letting normal lorry drivers drive tankers too. Unless you really believe that tanker drivers are somehow super-human and any relaxation of the rules will result in the uk going up in flames?

It's an extra 2 hours and that makes for several consecutive shifts of extra time on the road. Makes a mockery of having to enforce tachographs for the majority if we can suddenly wave and say "Oh ok it's just another couple of hours" for one lot of road users

And you must feel right at home if my post sounded like one from Mumsnet.

[whitevanman]

The max is 9hrs or 10hrs twice a week for HGV. May be different for tanker drivers, I don't know.

Whether you like it or not modern society is totally dependant on road transport. Running out of fuel would have serious negative consequences. If drivers can work an extra hour or two to get us over a shortage then so be it.

[porca misèria]

The body and mind can comfortably take long hours for a while. Think of the student life: day after day on little or no sleep and you're fine. When you're older you can no longer pull an all-nighter without feeling grotty, but you can still take that night out, and the early start when you go away.

But even the 20-year-old can't do a whole term on two hours sleep a night. It catches up with you. I recollect a pattern for a chunk of my student life involving those two hours six nights a week, and sleeping all day Sunday.

A couple of extra hours driving for a few days won't hurt in the way long-term extra hours would. Except of course where a driver is already tired, perhaps because life outside work has its stresses