Is Waiting to Be Loaded POA or Other Work?

It depends on one thing above all: did you know the likely length of the wait in advance? A foreseeable, known-duration wait where you're simply available can be recorded as a period of availability (POA). An open-ended wait where you don't know how long — or any time you're actively involved in the loading — is other work, and counts as working time.

The test: foreseeable duration

GOV.UK's working time rules for drivers describe POA as waiting time "the foreseeable duration of which are known about in advance," and even list "delays at a distribution centre" among the examples. So a booked slot where you're told you'll be an hour, and you can wait freely without working, points towards POA. The key is that you know roughly how long, and you're available rather than working.

When the wait is really other work

If you turn up and nobody can tell you how long you'll be — an open-ended queue with no known end — the "foreseeable duration known in advance" test isn't met, and the safer, more accurate record is other work (working time). Likewise, the moment you're doing something — helping load, strapping, supervising, moving the vehicle around the yard — it's clearly work, not availability. POA is passive, known-length waiting; anything active or open-ended isn't it.

Why the distinction bites

It matters because the two modes are counted completely differently. POA is neutral — it doesn't add to your 48-hour working week, and it isn't a break. Other work does count towards your working-time limits. So recording a long, uncertain wait as POA when it should be other work understates your working time; recording genuine known-duration availability as other work overstates it. Drivers and operators both have an interest in getting it right, because the tacho record is what enforcement reads.

What to do

Ask yourself at the bay: do I know roughly how long, and am I free to wait without working? If yes, POA can be appropriate. If it's open-ended, or you're mucking in with the load, record it as other work. When in doubt, other work is the more conservative call. The free drivers' hours calculator lets you enter POA and other work separately so you can see the effect of each on your limits, and the how POA and working time are counted explains how POA is treated. For operators, consistent activity recording across drivers is part of what HaulGuard's compliance system is built to support.