– What does a professional driver do? He drives a truck! – even a preschooler will answer. This is of course true, but as usual, not all of it. What does the work of a driver look like in practice?
The French government periodically analyses the tachograph records of drivers driving for 650 companies from the Seine. Recent research has yielded some interesting conclusions. For example, it turned out that driving a car accounts for 61% (for short-distance drivers) to 74% (for long-distance runners) of a driver’s entire working day.
WHAT DOES THE DRIVER DO DURING THE DAY?
From 1/4 to even more than 1/3 of the day, the driver spends working not behind the wheel. What does he do then? It’s definitely not boring. He has to take care of administrative duties – filling out documents, sending them (in our company we focus on their fully electronic circulation), servicing the vehicle and loading or unloading the goods.
Importantly, in the case of loading/unloading, you should be aware that not everything depends on the driver. It still happens that he has to wait for a free ramp at a crowded warehouse. However, when we look at the statistics shown by the French, it turns out that the waiting time is only 1% of the driver’s working time.
Don’t forget to take care of your vehicle. Even seemingly simple activities, such as removing snow from the car in front of the road, turn out to be quite a challenge when we have not a small passenger car in front of us, but a several-meter set with a semi-trailer. Of course, some people in such situations are tempted to drive without clearing the snow, on the principle of “it will be okay”. However, this is irresponsible, because at best it can end with a fine, and at worst – a tragedy on the road.
HOW MUCH DO A DRIVER REALLY WORK PER DAY?
Nearly 60% of drivers surveyed by the French government work 48 hours or more during the week. Moreover, this number has increased compared to the data from the previous year. There are slightly fewer drivers who work more than 51 hours a week.
This shows that in the last year, due to the lack of hands to work, most drivers worked longer hours. However, there is less and less room in the industry for riding to the limit of risk – without taking adequate rest.
It is very important! Studies show that the efficiency of a driver who has not slept for 17 hours deteriorates to an extent analogous to the state at 0.5 per mille of alcohol in the blood. After 24 hours, this state can be compared to 1 per mille. Therefore, it should not be underestimated that many drivers may be overworked, despite meeting the formal requirements of working time “behind the wheel”.
IMPROVING THE DRIVER’S WORKING CONDITIONS
What affects the comfort of the driver’s work? The car you drive will be of great importance here. The comfort of the new truck tractors is incomparable to what was waiting for us in the cabins a few years ago. It is therefore completely understandable that we are investing heavily in the fleet.
However, this is only one side. We often hear about drivers that nothing affects the comfort of work as much as … a good forwarder. Indeed, when the relationship between shippers and drivers is good and fair, everyone wins. The former, because they can count on the drivers to give their best at work, the latter, because they know that the office will make sure that there are as few unpleasant surprises as possible on the road, which can be avoided.
Do you want to check if VEGA really works so well? Send your CV to info@vega-transport.com and see what we can offer you.
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