Road Traffic Act 1960

Records of Hours of Work, &c

186 Duty of holder of carrier's licence to keep records as to hours of work, journeys, loads, and c

(1) Subject to any exemptions for which provision may be made by the regulations, the holder of a carrier's licence shall keep, or cause to be kept, in accordance with regulations made for the purposes of this section, current records showing—

(a) the times at which every person employed by him as a driver or statutory attendant of an authorised vehicle started and finished work and the intervals of rest of every such person;

(b) particulars of every journey of a vehicle on which goods are carried under the licence, showing the greatest weight of goods carried by the vehicle at any one time during the period to which the record relates and giving the description and destination of the goods carried.

(2) Where the holder of a carrier's licence himself acts as a driver or statutory attendant of an authorised vehicle, paragraph (a) of the foregoing subsection shall apply in relation to him as it applies in relation to persons employed by him:

Provided that regulations made for the purposes of this section may exempt the holder of the licence from recording information as respects himself when so acting in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations.

(3) Regulations made for the purposes of this section—

(a) may require separate information to be recorded as to the time spent by a person in work in connection with the vehicle or its load, or such description of such work as may be specified in the regulations, and the time spent by him in other work;

(b) may contain exemptions, applying in such cases and subject to such limitations as may be specified in the regulations, for vehicles used in the business of agriculture or vehicles used in the business of a travelling showman;

(c) may make provision for requiring drivers of authorised vehicles to carry the prescribed documents and to make any prescribed entries therein.

(4) Subject to the provisions of regulations made for the purposes of this section, a licensing authority may dispense with the observance, as respects the carriage of goods under a carrier's licence granted by him, of any requirement of those regulations, and may grant such a dispensation either generally, or as respects a particular vehicle, or as respects the use of vehicles for a particular purpose, but he shall not grant such a dispensation unless he is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable, having regard to the nature of the business concerned, for the requirement dispensed with to be observed:

Provided that, in the case of vehicles used in the business of agriculture, or in the business of a travelling showman, he shall grant a dispensation except in so far as he is satisfied that for special reasons the observance of a requirement of the regulations is desirable as respects particular vehicles, or as respects vehicles used for a particular purpose.

(5) The holder of a carrier's licence shall preserve every record kept under regulations made for the purposes of this section for a period of three months beginning on the date on which the record is made and for such further period, not exceeding six months, as may be required by the licensing authority or a chief officer of police; and during the period for which he is required by or under this subsection to preserve a record he shall, if required so to do at any time by an authorised person, produce the record for the inspection of that person.

In this subsection " authorised person " means the licensing authority, or a person authorised for the purposes of this subsection by the licensing authority or by a chief officer of police.

(6) A person who fails to comply with the provisions of this section or of any regulations made for the purposes thereof shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.