Tachographs record information about driving time, speed and distance. They’re used to make sure drivers and employers follow the rules on drivers’ hours.

You must use a tachograph if the vehicle you’re driving comes under EU or AETR rules.

Find out if EU or AETR rules apply to the passenger carrying vehicle or goods vehicle that you’re driving.

You don’t have to use a tachograph if your vehicle isn’t covered by EU rules or if it’s exempt from EU rules on drivers’ hours.

There are 2 types of tachograph - analogue and digital.

All commercial vehicles first registered on or after 1 May 2006 must be fitted with digital tachographs. Otherwise you can use an analogue tachograph.

Information from digital tachographs is saved on smart cards so it can be checked later. There are different types of card for:

• drivers
• haulage companies

Read the guides on drivers’ hours and tachographs for goods vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs). They include the rules on:

• analogue tachographs - including proper record keeping and filling in ‘centrefield’ entries
• digital tachographs - including using drivers’ cards, lost, stolen or faulty cards, setting the time and manual record keeping
• common rules for all tachographs - including ‘multi-manning’ and keeping 2nd driver records, recording other work, rest-days and days off
• responsibilities of operators - including calibrating and maintaining tachograph equipment
• what happens if you don’t follow the rules

There are specific rules for tachographs and horse boxes or trailers and tachographs and recovery vehicles.

The introduction of the smart tachograph has been confirmed for 2019 and with over six million trucks, buses and 4×4’s with a Tachograph fitted across the EU, the new smart devices are set to reduce the administrative process and tampering of current digital tachographs. The smart tachographs also come with new regulations that will strengthen the enforcement of key road safety rules that apply to larger commercial vehicles and buses.

The smart tachographs will automatically record the location of a vehicle via GPS at the starting place, every three hours of accumulated driving time and the end place at the end of the work day. Previously the digital tachograph will only record the country code for location and not an exact location pinned to a city or town. This has led to issues of tachograph fraud or breaches of environmental conditions. Due to the GPS locator, drivers will no longer be able to specify incorrect locations.

Vehicles will also be able to be scanned wirelessly by road enforcement officers without having to stop drivers to detect potential offences. This technology will be installed at the earliest by March 2019. The exchanged data will relate to the following recorded by the tachograph:

• The latest security breach attempt
• The longest power supply interruption
• Sensor fault
• Motion data error
• Vehicle motion conflict
• Driving without a valid card
• Card insertion while driving
• Time adjustment data
• Calibration data including the dates of the two most recent calibrations
• Vehicle registration data
• Speed recorded by the tachograph

This data will include information about the driver’s hours, break times and if they have exceeded daily driving limits. The data can not be retained for longer than three hours unless the data shows a misuse of the tachograph. If issues are detected this is likely to result in a full examination of the tachograph and could lead to further action.

Drivers will not only no longer have to manually input their location but the smart tachograph will also be allowed its data with other approved vehicle telematic systems. Enabling all information to be kept in one place and also in real time. This can also help when planning loads.