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The signs are that Britain's tachograph agony will soon be over—though not in the way that most operators have devoutly wished. We shall not know the certain date for the EEC scheme to be implemented until the Ministers have deliberated in Brussels next week but it begins to look as though a six-month delay is the most that can be expected. And it has, of course, already been agreed that vehicles on international journeys within the EEC will have tachographs from January 1, regardless of any delays at home.
After a long period of inactivity on the tachograph front, the Department of the Environment has set out to licence 100 fitting, calibration and servicing centres by March. With this hint, and memories of Italy's six-month permitted delay in implementation, our guess is that the original January "T" Day will not be allowed to slide beyond June.
Trade associations have advised their members to take no action on fitting the devices until a definite date is known. When it is, it will apply to newly registered vehicles and those carrying hazardous loads. We shall •have until January, 1978, to fit existing vehicles with EEC tachographs —and with a year's fitting time already lost, that is going to create some daunting problems.