The DVSA is trialling remote tachograph sensing equipment at the roadside to detect drivers and operators who are breaking drivers’ hours rules.  The DVSA says the equipment is being used to “help keep Britain’s roads safe.”

The equipment is reported to remotely access data from vehicles that are fitted with a smart tachograph at the roadside, and it is thought that examiners will be able to identify whether a tachograph card is inserted, if a tachograph card has been tampered with, or if the card is correctly calibrated.

So-called ‘smart’ tachographs, which use digital technology to automatically record location and journey data, have been mandatory for newly registered vehicles since June 2019.

What Does this Mean for Operators?

Transport operators have a responsibility to properly review and manage tachograph records. This can be made much simpler by utilising the most up-to-date technology.

Remote Tachograph Downloading

If you are still manually downloading tachograph data, maybe it’s time to think about moving to remote downloading equipment.

For example, the Digidown RDL is a piece of equipment that works with all makes of digital tachograph to give access to tachograph downloads remotely, on demand or via a pre-determined schedule (daily/weekly/monthly).  Tachograph data, including all recorded information or just the data that you select (e.g. notification of events or faults), can be transferred to a storage folder on your computer or can be emailed to you directly.  This is not only convenient, but it gives peace of mind that infringements won’t go undetected, whether you are notified as they happen, or they are identified through retrospective analysis.

If one of your trucks were to be stopped at the roadside following a check with one of these new sensors, this remote functionality gives you the ability to force downloads to check exactly what the enforcement officer is looking at.

Automated Tachograph Analysis

Once the data has been downloaded remotely, the next step could be to send the data to an online analysis system such as disc-check, which automates and analyses the data for you and provides the information you need in a range of easy to interpret dashboards.  Not only does this give you better visibility of data, but it also improves accuracy by reducing human error and significantly cuts down on time spent carrying out the analysis.

disc-check also has an app which helps your drivers to manage their hours, including how many reduced rests they have left, how many increased drives they have left and when their next weekly rest is due.  It allows the drivers to acknowledge their infringements via the app and if they do, this will show on the reports you get.

At AJT Transport Consultancy we have around 1,000 Digidown RDL’s fitted with the majority pointing to disc-check for analysis. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.