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Hauliers must pay for EC tacho plans

11th November 1993
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Page 6, 11th November 1993 — Hauliers must pay for EC tacho plans
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by Amanda Bradbury • A storm of protest has met the news that the EC will unveil proposals next January to introduce mandatory fitting of in-cab electronic "smart card" technology estimated to cost at least £200 per vehicle.

The devices, which make and interpret electronic recordings of drivers hours, are based around a driver-specific plastic smart card: the move will affect new vehicles only.

The Commission favours a two-stage process of implementation, starting with an electronic device running in tandem with a conventional tachograph.

There will also be an option to fit a purely electronic device as long as it provides at least as much information and is as secure as the tachograph.

The EC's smart card proposals are set to be put into Directive form at the end of next year the earliest possible implementation date is 1January 1999.

If the systems were fitted today, they would cost from under £200 for a smart card reader linked to an existing tacho graph—this could rise to around £1,500 for an all-inclusive electronic device. Manufacturers say the price of the technology will significantly reduce, down to around the price of a tachograph at today's costs, by the time operators have to buy the devices. The Department of Transport says it has not yet decided whether the Government will help hauliers bear the cost of the new technology. But it admitted this week that financial aid was "very unlikely".

The Road Haulage Association reacted angrily this week to the proposals with operations director Tim Inman saying he is "absolutely horrified" by the "crazy" move. He says the cost will be "completely insupportable" to small operators.

But some large fleet operator managers, like TNT Contracts managing director Neil Crossthwaite, welcome the move. He has challenged manufacturers to sign contracts backing up their promise to deliver the technology at the current price of a tachograph by 1999.

Sheddick Transport, which runs 70 vehicles, already uses the proposed technology and says that even at today's prices it shows a direct financial pay back after a number of years. The company's nine incab smart card devices each cost around £700 apiece including office software. • As smart cards are specific to a single driver, the EC proposals are likely to push Forward a move towards the introduction of card-based driving licences.

Initially smart cards will function as driver cords issued by the licensing authorities which will be used alongside the paper driving licence. In time, however, all the information stored on the smart card and driving licence could be stored on a single piece of plastic. Current smart cards can only store about 28 days' worth of data including a comprehensive record of the previous two days.


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