Ad I would like to welcome the introduction of the digital
Page 52
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
tachograph in Europe as scheduled within two years. If properly developed it offers enormous benefits by improving the safety of drivers and other road users through its capacity to monitor truck functions. It also offers operators the opportunity for improved efficiencies and greater profitability: a real win-win situation for everyone!
I would like to welcome the introduction of the digital tachographbut I can't! Why not? Because, despite its potential benefits, there are too many unresolved problems.
As a member of the European Union Committee that is considering the issue, I am aware of some unresolved technical problems and a few commercial and political conflicts. But, with goodwill and the application of sufficient technical resources, I believe that all those problems can be dealt with.
Not so easy is enlisting support from professional European drivers and their trade unions. At present, with the conventional tachograph, a driver can examine his or her own chart and take a photocopy before passing it to an employer, the police or the Vehicle Inspectorate. He or she can easily analyse what it shows or, at least, have it analysed quickly and at low cost. The results are transparent and most drivers feel safe with it.
But what will happen with a digital electronic system that cannot be so easily read? How will the information it contains be downloaded? Where will the records be stored and who will have access to them? What guarantee does the driver have that the information will not be corrupted or manipulated to his or her disadvantage?
These are important questions and the continuing failure to answer them is causing increasing concern among European trade unions.
As rapporteur for the union side in the discussions, I know that many unions, including my own, will not endorse the introduction of the digital tachograph until we are assured that drivers will have ready access to the information and be able to copy it and comprehend it before it is downloaded and shipped off to some obscure central archive.
We will also want to know that the archive facility will not be controlled by enforcement bodies but. technically, will be corruption-free. It will have to offer ready access and speedy retrieval of information and analysis cheaply to those with a legitimate interest.
The ideal situation would be one in which enforcement agencies, employers and trade unions have an equal interest and influence in the management of a central archive to which all information must be downloaded in its original form.
Anything less than that and any failure to satisfy drivers and their representatives about the security of their information will result in the rejection of the proposed system and a vigorous two-digit response to the digital age and the electronic secrets in the cab.