Recent and current issues relating to driver’s hours and tachographs

Digital Tachograph printer rolls.

Paper rolls used in digital tachographs must be of an approved type and bear a type approval number. The paper in the tachograph is part of the recording equipment. If the paper is wrong then the recording equipment is not fitted correctly.This could lead to a roadside prohibition.

WARNING. Paper bearing approval number E3 502 appears to be ‘faulty’ in several areas, (recordings can be obliterated by marker pens, recordings can be erased by a damp cloth, the rolls are too big in diameter to fit in some tachographs, etc.)

Paper rolls supplied by Novadata have been tested to ensure full compliance.

Storage of tachograph charts (record sheets).

It is now a legal requirement to store tachograph charts in chronological order

“The undertaking shall keep record sheets and printouts, whenever printouts have been made to comply with Article 15(1) [EC3821/85], in chronological order and in a legible form for at least a year after their use and shall give copies to the drivers concerned who request them.”

Note – the words in sqaure brackets [….] are added by the editor to clarify the original text.

Recording of duty times

Start and finish times, duties carried out away from the vehicle, and other work for any employer must be recorded on the tachograph chart or by use of the facilities in the digital tachograph. The offence of failing to comply carries a maximum fine of £5000 !

When as a result of being away from the vehicle, a driver is unable to use the equipment fitted to the vehicle, the periods of time referred to in paragraph 3, second indent (b)[other work], (c)[availability] and (d)[break/rest] shall:

(a) if the vehicle is fitted with recording equipment in conformity with Annex I [analogue], be entered on the record sheet, either manually, by automatic recording or other means, legibly and without dirtying the sheet; or

(b) if the vehicle is fitted with recording equipment in conformity with Annex IB [digital], be entered onto the driver card using the manual entry facility provided in the recording equipment.

In this context ‘other work’ means –

any activity other than driving, as defined in Article 3(a) of Directive 2002/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities, and also any work for the same or another employer within or outside of the transport sector

Note – the words in sqaure brackets [….] are added by the editor to clarify the original text.

New driver’s hours rules confusion (1)

Some sources are stating that if in any fixed week a driver drives an ‘in-scope’vehicle on one day then records must be kept for the whole week. This is incorrect. Drivers are required to keep records of activities carried after the end of the most recent daily rest period or weekly rest up to the time of ‘card insertion’ only. This has been confirmed by VOSA and DfT. (But, do not forget that some form of records may be needed for working time calculations).

New driver’s hours rules confusion (2)

VOSA have recently published a poster on the ‘New Driver’s Houre Rules’. In the centre there is an ‘explanation’ diagram of ferry rest. This diagram is incorrect. The driving within the 11 hour rest period does not form part of the rest. The three parts of the rest must add up to 11 hours, and the driving within the interrupted rest must be added to the daily driving + duty period. VOSA agree that this is a mistake.

Taking delivery of a new vehicle

Enter vehicle, view the display of the tachograph in the vehicle.

There should be no need to turn on the ignition of the vehicle at this stage.

There is no need to insert any card(s) to perform the tasks below.

Check the current mode of the tacho:

Production   Â

Operational    ¿

If the production symbol is displayed, the instrument is not calibrated and the vehicle should be returned to the dealer for calibration.

If in ‘operational’ mode, turn on the ignition and using the ‘menu’ features print out a technical report, indicated by the symbol combination below –

Á

Examine the printout for the following:

-  VIN Number (chassis number) of the vehicle – this should be 17 alpha/numeric characters without any spaces or punctuation

Example:       WDB9323072L151591        

- VRM (vehicle registration number / index mark) – for a UK vehicle this should be in the form of the letters ‘UK’ followed by a ‘space’ followed by ‘/’ immediately by the 7 character vehicle registration mark (e.g: AB56XYZ), again without any spaces or punctuation.

Example:    UK /AB56XYZ

If any feature is not as described, refer back to your dealer / supplier. Problems may well arise when the data is accessed; as the files will not be able opened and ‘read’.

Lock-in data

If all is well, with the ignition on, insert a ‘company card’ to ‘lock-in’ the data that will be stored while the vehicle is used by your company.

The vehicle is now ready for use by your staff.

Any problems contact:

NOVADATA  on 01376 552999

Date : 20-03-2007