Digital tachograph information for drivers
Applying for your digital tachograph smart card
Digital Tachograph driver and company card application packs are now available from the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - please call 0870 8501074.
Workshop card application forms are now available from VOSA - please call 01792 454336. The workshop card will only be issued to trained technicians working at approved tachograph calibration centres.
Please see Buying a tachograph for further information.
What is the difference between analogue and digital tachographs?
The biggest difference between the (analogue) tachograph and the digital tachograph is the use of a smart card instead of the record sheets (often called charts, discs or tachos) used in analogue tachographs.
There are 4 cards (collectively known as Digital Tachograph Cards) that are used by the digital tachograph system:-
- Driver card - used by drivers to allow the recording of drivers’ hours
- Company card - for use by the operator to protect and download the data
- Workshop card - available only to approved calibration centres
- Control card - available only to VOSA and Police for carrying out enforcement
The Driver smart card is a plastic card similar in size to a photo driving licence / credit card, with a microchip in it.
Before commencing a journey you are required to insert your driver card(s) into the 1st or 2nd man slot (driver or co-driver) on the front of the Vehicle Unit (VU) in the same way a chart is put into the head. The ‘centre field’ details will be recorded automatically by the tachograph - driver name, vehicle registration number, start and finish odometer readings and place code.
You record your different activities - driving, other work, breaks and rest by changing the mode switch, and swap the cards between driver and co-driver slots when double manned, in the same manner as with record sheets.
Details of time spent working away from the vehicle that are written on the rear of the record sheet are input manually into the tachograph. The system also records details of any faults / interference, errors and over speeding that occur.
This information is stored for at least 28 days on your personal driver card and for at least a year in the VU.
Please note - At this time there are NO changes to the current vehicles exempted from the EU requirements or to Drivers’ Hours regulations. You can view the Drivers’ Hours and Tachograph rules publications
Drivers Hours and Tachograph Rules for Goods Vehicles
and
Drivers Hours and Tachograph Rules for Road Passenger Vehicles
online or obtain a copy from VOSA by calling 0870 60 60 440, or by emailing the Enquiry Unit.
News
19-09-08 Motoring fraudsters stopped in their tracks
A continuing clampdown on fraudsters by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) saw another driving test impersonator appear at Ipswich Crown Court today.[This information is held on an external site]
23-09-08 High cost of a bogus driving licence
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) continued to deliver a severe warning to motoring fraudsters at Croydon Crown Court yesterday.[This information is held on an external site]
24-09-08 The DSA re-launch award winning ARRIVE ALIVE Programme for Young People
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is updating part of its national award-winning campaign Arrive Alive.[This information is held on an external site]