mho programme lipping into 1982
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NOTHER tachograph calibration deadline on the horizon, growing evidence that the Department of Transport's fitogramme is slipping behind schedule.
}y 1, all P-registered lorns, and public service (first registered August July 1976) must have and calibrated tacho'Med, but only those on onal journeys (including Republic) are compelled iem before January 1. ere is a strong feeling in ustry that, while most ors are having their I vehicles calibrated, as ; 15 per cent of 13to Wad vehicles have not
ed.
; accounted for in part by )wn-account operators' ce of the law — a theory lut by the DTp's recent ing campaign — and the mothballing of many rs' surplus vehicles. Tachograph manufacturers are now predicting that the retrofit programme, which was due to end on December 31, will extend well into next year, and could last longer if lorries laid up due to the recession are not placed back in service until later.
Transport Secretary Norman Fowler has already told MPs that the DTp does not know the exact extent of non-calibration, though the information should be accessible from records submitted by calibration centres.
The dip in demand for tachographs is likely also to colour the calibration centres' views about the statutory £17 fee for sealing and calibrating a tachograph.
This was raised last May from £10, following widespread complaints about overcharging, and, though the DTp said then that it would be reviewed regularly, there are no plans yet to raise it.
Some agents have begun to put pressure on tachograph manufacturers to have the fee raised in line with inflation.