Tachograph Analysis Consultants Limited - Nigel Kirkwood

Digital tachographs are becoming more and more common. They perform the same function as their analogue counterparts: recording details in support of Drivers’ Hours Laws, compliance etc.

The records they produce, now electronic rather than physical charts, still have to be retained and be available for inspection by the authorities – just like their analogue counterparts.

Yes, we know all that, I hear you saying.

So perhaps we should ask why some operators do not download their digital tachograph driver cards or their digital tachograph vehicle units?  Those same operators that so diligently file and store their analogue tachograph records in well ordered filing systems.

When, during one of our recent detailed site audits, I compared not keeping the digital records to taking tachograph charts from the filing cabinet, ripping them up and putting them in the bin”, I was told “ripping up tachograph charts, don’t be silly, we would never do that.”

But not downloading and saving electronic details from your driver cards and vehicle units could be compared to exactly that.  The result for an operator could be exactly the same: not being able to produce details to the enforcement authorities when asked to do so.

Failure to produce appropriate records is a very serious offence.

So, when should you download your driver cards and vehicle units?  It is a requirement that driver cards are downloaded no later than every 28 days and vehicle units no later than every 56 days.

It is commonly accepted that driver cards typically hold approximately 28 days of information.  As the driver card is used day-to-day, so the storage space on it gets used up.  Eventually it becomes full.

If, for example, the card was “full” at 28 days, and continues to be used, it can be thought of in the following way: the details for day 29 could overwrite the details for day 1; the details for day 30 could overwrite the details for day 2, and so on.

Do not download the driver card for long enough and original information will be lost – forever.

As the driver card information is “electronic”, it is not like a paper chart, where, if mislaid, you can search for it.  If the electronic information is overwritten by not downloading often enough, those details are gone – just like ripping up paper tachograph charts.

And the perils of electronic tachograph records do not end there.  If you have been diligently downloading your driver cards and vehicle units and storing them, what happens if the new laptop you bought especially for the purpose gets stolen, dropped or the hard disk crashes… with no other back-ups, those files that contain your tachograph records are gone – just like ripping up paper tachograph charts.

You will not be able to produce them for inspection by the authorities!

It is the same for the vehicle units. The vehicle unit typically holds 365 days of information. Do not download the vehicle unit for long enough and original information will be lost - for ever.

So, when asked to produce the records you could not - just like ripping up paper tachograph charts.

‘Failure to produce’ records is a very serious offence.  How will the authorities know you are a diligent operator running legally?  The tachograph records, be they electronic downloads or paper tachograph charts, prove you are a law abiding, compliant operator.

No records do not help to prove that!

So my recommendation is that you download all your driver cards once per week.  This gets everyone involved in to a regular weekly routine.

For vehicle unit downloads, can this process be incorporated in to another already existing schedule?  Perhaps your maintenance inspection schedule is six weekly (42 days).  Can the vehicle unit downloading be added to that already existing process?

If all else fails help is at hand.  Companies such as ours, who specialise in tachographs and compliance, have courses dedicated to the whys and wherefores of digital downloading.

They also provide a service for storing your downloads, sending out timely reminders to do them etc.

Remember, you would not deliberately rip up paper tachograph charts – so why risk the electronic equivalent.

Nigel Kirkwood is Technical Director at Tachograph Analysis Consultants Limited.  For further information, contact Nigel on Tel: 01704 894555, E-mail: nigel.kirkwood@digital-tachograph.com or visit: www.digital-tachograph.com

Published: 03/09/2010