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Page 56
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Digital tachographs have been with us since 2005, and the number of trucks fitted with them is increasing. For existing digitach users, and for drivers who've yet to use them, here are Vosa's top 10 tips based on the issues it has encountered at the roadside...
Words: Brian Weatherley
IDriving a truck with a digitach without a 'Driver Card'. 1 If you're working within the scope of EU drivers' hours, and want to drive a truck with a digitach, the law is clear. You must have a Driver Card and use it correctly!
2Using someone else's Driver Card. Don't, under any circumstances, be tempted to use someone else's card for recording your driving activities on a digitach if you haven't applied for. or got your own Driver Card.
3Driver Card in the wrong slot. If you're driving a truck with a digitach, your card must be in "slot 1"; if you're (continued on page 56)
the co-driver of a double-manned vehicle (and not driving), it must be in "slot 2". Remember to put your card back in "slot 1" before starting driving again.
4 Know how to use a digitach correctly. Operators must provide their drivers with proper training and instructions, But ifs the driver's responsibility to know how to operate a digitach properly; which means avoiding the following common mistakes:
• Putting the Driver Card in upside down or the wrong way round • Failing to enter start and end of duty locations • Failing to correctly use the activity mode switch during the day • Failing to ensure breaks and rests are long enough
I: Failing to make 'manual' entries on your
Driver Card. You need to do this for those periods of time when your card is out of the digitach and it isn't possible for the device to record what you were doing on to your card. For example, you may have been working in the warehouse at the start of a day before you start driving a truck with a digitach.
To make a manual entry you need to understand how the particular digitach works (i.e. what buttons to press). After putting your Driver Card into the digitach, it will always ask you if you wish to 'make a manual entry?'. If the answer is yes, just scroll through the menu on the display to record your duties since the card was last taken out of the digitach. Don't be tempted to skip this.
If you miss doing it when you first put your card into the device, you won't be able to go back and do it later. Not doing so is akin to not making manual entries on the rear of analogue charts and you could fall into the territory of `failing to keep records' or even 'false records'.
6Not carrying enough printer paper. Make sure you always carry sufficient type-approved `till rolls' for your digitach (one to one-and-a-half is enough for most drivers), just like you would spare analogue charts.
It's an offence not to have sufficient paper, and you could face problems if you haven't. The obvious would be not being able to produce printouts if you want to keep for a personal record.
Importantly, for records purposes, you'd not be able to produce a printout as a 'report for notation of problems' as specified under Article 12 of the Regulations. For instance, if you were to exceed 4.5 hrs due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. a jam caused by an accident).
7Failing to carry a Driver I Card when driving a truck with an 'Analogue' Tacho. If you've been issued with a
Driver Card, you'll need to produce it for Vosa staff or the police if you're stopped — even if you're driving a truck with an old-style analogue tacho. Enforcement officers will check the your Driver Card records, plus the analogue tacho charts you're carrying.
0 Not carrying analogue (chart) records when driving a
truck with a digitach. As well as having your Driver Card, you must carry with you the tacho charts for those periods when you have been driving a truck with an old-style analogue tacho. And since January 1 2008, drivers are required to carry records for ail work carried out on the current day and the previous 28 calendar days.
9Changes to previous exemptions for trucks needing tachographs. Some vehicles previously exempt from drivers' hours rules have now been brought into scope by the latest drivers' hours rules [Reg (EC) 561/20061 For details, contact your nearest Vosa test station.
Stolen, lost and faulty driver cards. You can temporarily carry on driving legally if your card goes missing or stops working, but only by following the rules below.
• You must report a faulty card problem to the DVLA within seven calendar days. You can apply for a replacement card at the same time and, if reported promptly, your new card will be delivered well within the 15 calendar day time limit allowed for temporarily driving without a card. The DVLA will provide a replacement/exchange card within five working days of receiving your application.
• If your card is lost or stolen, you can call the DVLA and apply for a replacement. However, if you ask someone to phone for you, they'll need a credit card to pay for the replacement.
• You can use printouts to record your duties for up to 15 calendar days (and in extreme cases longer, if it takes more time to return to base from abroad).
• To keep records using printouts, you must produce a printout at the start and end of each day. You have to keep these with you on the vehicle in the same way as you would with analogue chart records until they need to be returned to your boss.
• The printouts must show your name and either your driving licence number or Driver Card number, and you must sign them. All this is to be done at the start and end of duty at the time you take each printout from the digitach.
• Only the named card holder can collect a replacement for a lost or stolen card. You must sign for it, completing a declaration form when you pick it up from either a DVLA local office or Vosa test station — whichever is nearest. (A list of offices is included in the Driver Card application pack.) • When a Driver Card is faulty, the same rules apply regarding informing the DVLA and recording activities on printouts.
However, in this case, you must send the defective card back to the DVLA with a replacement application form. When you do this, the DVLA will send an Exchange card to you, by post, free of charge. •