‘SMART tachographs’ are likely to appear in new vehicles in six months’ time and will be mandatory in all newly registered vehicles from 15 June 2019, so it’s vital that vehicle operators, drivers and workshops have all the relevant information in plenty of time, said staff from Continental Automotive who covered the subject of onboard satellite location technology at the FTA Transport Manager’s Conference held in Cumbernauld.
The session described what these new devices do, discussed the compatibility between old cards and new devices, how the changes will impact drivers and whether they could act as more of an aid to drivers rather than simply an enforcement device. The session also discussed whether workshops will be ready and what the changes will mean for enforcement.
James Firth, FTA’s head of road freight regulation policy, said: ‘This will be the biggest change to the tachograph since the move from analogue to digital. The new smart tachograph brings many functional improvements: Increased security, satellite positioning data and remote downloading of data for enforcement assists in ensuring compliance with drivers’ hours regulations.’
‘The ITS interface in Continental Automotive’s VDO DTCO 4.0 smart tachograph provides access to over 70 different pieces of data that can assist operators in transport planning and driver or vehicle utilisation,’ said Continental’s Keith Lloyd.
