From May this year, all UK lorry drivers will be obliged to work on Universal Time Co-ordinated (UTC), when the new EU digital tachograph regulations come into force. The FTA says: “When UK drivers sign on for work at 7 o’clock they will have to enter 6 o’clock and compute records of rest periods and daily breaks on a different time than the one stated by Big Ben or their wristwatch.”
UTC is the standard time used worldwide by the air and shipping industries. It has been adopted by the EU as the appropriate set reference time for the collection and computation of lorry drivers’ hours records.
Every new lorry above 3.5 tonnes put into operation in the EU after 1 May will be fitted with the unit and any driver of that vehicle will therefore be obliged to work on UTC.
