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EC promises leeway for multi-drop digital' use

22nd November 2007
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Page 22, 22nd November 2007 — EC promises leeway for multi-drop digital' use
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

frie EC plans to allow digitach users 15 minutes' leeway — if they can

Nove they are doing multi-drop work. Roanna Avison finds out why.

rhe fact that digital tachographs round up to the nearest minute when a river stops is well known. It is such n issue that earlier this year the toad Haulage Association and iosa ran a trial involving hauliers it multi-drop work using analogue nd digital tachographs at the ame time to compare the differnee in timing (CM 31 May).

Results from this trial have vet ) be released but in the meantime le European Commission has ..cognised that drivers making deveries that would fall within their 1/2-hour driving limit with an ana)gue tacho can find themselves ver the time limit when using a igitach on the same round.

As a result it is to publish guidnce on digitachs for enforcement gencies across the Continent. This interpretation of the law alms drivers 15 minutes' leeway, as mg as they can prove they have een making multi-drop deliveries.

Ine minute per block ,ccording to the Freight Transport Lssociation the tolerance might e applied as a deduction of one Mute for each block of driving me between stops, with a maxinun of 15 minutes per 41/2-hour eriod of uninterrupted driving. Enforcement officers will be xpected to exercise their discre tion based on the circumstances and evidence made available to them (such as proof that the driver was making frequent multidrop stops), as long as road safety is not compromised.

Joan Williams, head of road freight and enforcement policy at the F1'A, says the EC has agreed that enforcement agencies across Europe should allow multi-drop drivers to exceed the 41/2-hour driving limit by up to 15 minutes.

Big move in Belgium " I think this issue was pushed to he discussed by the EC by Belgium, where there has been a big move to ensure drivers are compliant with the readings on the digitachs," she says.

However. Williams does not expect the guidance from the F.0 to make much difference in the UK, simply because Vosa has already taken a pragmatic approach to the rounding-up issue.

Jack Semple, the Road Haulage Association's director of policy, agrees that the EC has been flexible by recognising that digitachs round up by allowed the extra 15 minutes per 41/2 hours so long as it is backed up with suitable evidence.

"However, the EC has completely rejected the idea of giving digitach users an allowance of extra minutes simply because the digitach records extra time compared to the analogue tachographs," says Semple. "Fifteen min ules is a fairly narrow addition, but it will be useful nonetheless.

And, like Williams, Semple notes that Vosa has taken a sensible approach and given drivers using digitachs the benefit of the doubt so far. He shares her conclusion that "it will only make a small amount of difference to a few operators".

While the guidance is meant to ensure all enforcement agencies take the same approach, it will not have the force of law. Instead it could serve as a legal defence.

Karen Crispe, director at tachograph specialist Tachodisc, says it's good to see the industry move so quickly to address the rounding up issue:"We have seen genuine cases where customers have experienced differences between the way analogue and digital [tachographs] record, even though they have done the same trip.This has meant customers have had to make allowances in the way they plan their deliveries.

Interpreting clarification

She adds that the EC clarification is still open to interpretation by local enforcement officers and hopes more information will come from Brussels in the coining weeks on how the period of grace should be enforced.

Vosa declined to comment but a IX I spokesman says: -This guidance was agreed by member states, including the UK, at a meeting on 29 October 2007 by the EC.

"-the intention is to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted throughout the EU for enforcement purposes. Vosa will enforce accordingly, but [its personnel] are already encouraged to exercise an element of discretion before taking enforcement action.•


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