Factsheet 2 – November 2007

Work time and logbooks

Work time is a legal term meaning the maximum time the driver of a commercial or heavy motor vehicle may work, including driving, before taking rest. These restrictions are designed to help reduce the risk of fatigue in drivers of commercial and heavy motor vehicles.

All hours spent working, regardless whether it is time spent driving or doing other work  must now be recorded as 'work time'.

Who do the work time and logbook rules apply to?

The work time and logbook rules apply to everyone who is legally required to manage driving hours, including both drivers and transport operators. The rules apply to you if you:

• operate a transport service
• are the driver of a vehicle used in a transport service
• are the driver of a heavy motor vehicle with a gross laden weight of more than 4500 kg, or
• are the driver of a vehicle used to carry goods for hire or reward.

What are the work time and rest requirements?

In general, drivers must take a break of at least 30 minutes after 5 1/2 hours of work time, no matter what type of work takes place during that period.

In any period of work of up to 24 hours (known as a 'cumulative work day'), you can work a maximum of 13 hours and then you must take a break of at least 10 hours (as well as the standard half-hour breaks every 5 1/2 hours).

You can accumulate a total of 70 hours work time (known as a 'cumulative work period') before having to take a break of at least 24 hours.

What does work time include?

Work time includes both driving and all other work-related activities subject to the work time rules. For example, it includes:

• driving
• loading and unloading
• maintenance and cleaning of vehicles
• administration
• any paid employment whether or not related to transport activities
• time on the taxi stand (for a taxi driver).

'Rest' means all time that is not work time; is at least 30 minutes long; and is not spent in a moving work vehicle.

Ferries

If your journey involves a ferry crossing between the North and South Islands and the trip lasts more than an hour, you can count this as a rest break. Ferry departure and arrival times must be recorded as the start and end of a rest break in your logbook. At the end of the crossing, even if you have exceeded your work time hours for the day, you can work for up to one further hour to find a safe place to park your vehicle before taking your 10-hour rest break before commencing work again.

Taxi drivers

Because taxi drivers' work typically involves periods of rest while waiting for a fare, taxi drivers can work 7 hours before taking a break of at least 30 minutes. However, if you accept a fare of more than 100 km, or do additional work within the same cumulative work day, then you must take a break after the standard 5 1/2 hours.

Mixed driving

If you drive a taxi and another class of vehicle that is subject to work time requirements in a cumulative work day, then you must take a rest break after 5 1/2 hours of continuous work time.

Short-term variations

If your work requires you to exceed normal work time limits to meet short-term business needs, operators can apply to the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) for a short-term variation to either allowable work time or required rest breaks. However your cumulative work period must not exceed 70 hours.

Short term variations cannot be approved for more than 14 days in total and must be applied for before it is needed.

Tour buses

Tour bus operators can apply to the NZTA for variations to work time requirements if their tour involves taking a group of tourists on a defined schedule on a predetermined route that takes more than 24 hours to complete. Scheduled meal breaks of at least 30 minutes must be included in the tour plan.

Unavoidable delays

If you are unable complete your journey within work time limits due to an unavoidable delay, this must be recorded in your logbook. Unavoidable delays are circumstances that you could not reasonably foresee or emergencies, which are defined as:

• a state of emergency (ie a civil defence emergency)
• an incident attended by an emergency service, or
• an event requiring immediate action to save life or prevent serious injury.

Drivers of emergency and essential services

If you drive an emergency service vehicle, or work for a principal rural fire officer, and you are asked to work beyond standard work time limits, your dispatcher must consider alternatives, like the availability of other drivers, including those from other locations, before requesting you continue to work exceeded work time hours on a priority call. After the call-out, you can return the vehicle to the emergency base and drive home but must then take your required break.

Essential service drivers include drivers who work for road controlling authorities, territorial authorities, organisations that supply natural gas or electricity and people working on emergency works to stabilise land or reduce risk to property. Essential service drivers can extend their work time hours if requested by a manager of the relevant authority to restore essential services. You will need to record the details in your logbook.

What are the penalties?

A breach of the work time rules is serious. If convicted, a driver can be fined up to $2000 for each breach. In addition, you will be disqualified from driving, possibly from all licence classes, for at least one month.

If you employ a driver who breaches work or rest time limits and you're held responsible for this, you could be fined up to $25000 upon conviction. This is known as the 'chain of responsibility'.

Keeping a logbook

If you are subject to the work time limits, you must record all your work and rest times in a logbook approved by the NZTA.

The logbook provides a record of your work activity and enables enforcement officers to check compliance with the work time rules. You must produce your logbook to an enforcement officer to inspect, if requested, starting from the last 24-hour rest time up to the present time. An enforcement officer is entitled to remove pages from your logbook, and most logbooks contain a special duplicate or triplicate copy for this purpose.

You can only maintain one logbook at a time.

What do I need to know?

• There are two types of logbook format – general and taxi.
• Logbook entries are required for the work you do between one 24-hour break and the next, so you need to record each cumulative work period (70 hours or less).
• All existing logbook exemptions expire on 1 April 2008.
• All logbook forms that are not in the new format will not be able to be used after 1 July 2008.
• You can find a copy of the new format in the Land Transport Rule: Work Time and Logbooks 2007.

How do I use a logbook?

You must fill out the following information in your logbook:

• your name
• the date the logbook page starts on
• the time of day your logbook page starts (midnight or noon)
• the registration number of each vehicle driven and the distance recorder readings (if the vehicle is subject to road user charges)
• the start and finish times and location for all work time hours
• the start and finish times for all your rest breaks and where you took them

You must also note your name or unique identifier on the space provided on the cover of the logbook and, if you are using an approved general logbook form, you must complete the activity grid.

Keeping the logbook up to date

Your logbook entries are required for the period between one 24-hour break and the next (the cumulative work period of up to 70 hours). After taking some days off, you must record the dates of the days off on your first day back at work.

Once you have completed a cumulative work period, you must make sure your employer receives the 'record' copy of your logbook entries within 14 days.

If you experience a delay that causes you to exceed the work time limits for a cumulative work day or cumulative work period, you need to note the event and the length of the delay in your logbook. Immediate exemptions from the NZTA are not available.

You must keep the logbook for 12 months after the date of the last entry.

If you employ drivers, or are an owner-operator, you are also required to keep fuel and accommodation receipts that can be produced on demand by an enforcement officer. You are also required to keep a range of employment records.

Logbook exemptions

• Some sectors of the commercial transport industry are exempt from keeping logbooks, but must still meet work time requirements.
• You don't need to keep a logbook if you drive for the New Zealand Defence Force, the New Zealand Police, an ambulance service or the New Zealand Fire Service.
• Drivers of certain services or types of vehicles are also exempt from filling in logbooks, eg:
  • farm vehicles – provided that the vehicle is only driven within a 50 km radius of the farm and is used for work that is directly related to the management of the farm, or used to transport farming equipment or stock
  • motor homes – provided the vehicle has sleeping and cooking facilities that take up more than half of the floor area of the vehicle
  • recreational vehicles that would require a Class 2 driver licence
  • a vintage heavy vehicle
  • special-type vehicles (eg forklifts and rollers).
• You don't need to keep logbook records if you operate a vehicle over 6000 kg under a goods service licence within a 50 km radius of your business, and your vehicle requires a Class 1 or 2 licence.
• Vehicle recovery service vehicles are not required to complete logbook entries, provided they keep tow authorities as a record of their work hours.
• If you drive an urban bus, you will not need to keep a logbook, provided your regular roster meets certain requirements. Tour bus drivers operating under variations to work time requirements must still keep a logbook.
• If you drive a school bus you don't need to keep a logbook.

Logbook offences

Demerit points and instant fines apply to some logbook offences. See the table below for more information.

Offence	Penalty
	Infringement fee +	Demerit points
Produced a logbook on demand with 1-5 omissions	$150	10
Produced a logbook on demand with 6-10 omissions	$300	20
Produced a logbook on demand with 11 or more omissions	$500	30
Failed to produce a logbook	$500	35

 

Where can I find out more?

This factsheet provides some guidance on the legal requirements for work time hours and logbooks set out in the Land Transport Act 1998 (as amended by the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005) and Land Transport Rule: Work Time and Logbooks 2007. For more complete information, please refer to the legislation. Copies are available from some libraries, from bookshops that sell legislation and at www.legislation.govt.nz.

Or contact NZ Transport Agency:

• Email: info@nzta.govt.nz.
• Call our contact centre: 0800 699 000.
• Write to us: NZ Transport Agency, Private Bag 6995, Wellington 6141.