Tachos 'a must' for Continent
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BRITISH lorry drivers on Continental journeys can expect heavy on-the-spot fines for not having a tachograph fitted in place of their logbooks.
According to EEC legislation, all international lorries have to have tachographs installed and in operation.
An EEC spokesman told CM this week that nobody could expect lenient treatment.
Commenting on recent heavy fines on British drivers by French police, he said: "Drivers are breaking the law in full knowledge of the facts".
British operators should have been complying with the EEC rule as from January this year.
The spokesman said that the Commission is aware that Britain is largely ignoring the rule for domestic journeys. But it has not yet decided to institute court proceedings against Britain.
Some countries are using international talks to propose new exemptions from the tachograph rules. "It's a running question" he said, "but legally, drivers should be using the tachograph".
This week, the Department of Transport told CM that it believed there would be, as from September 7, officially approved tachograph calibration centres operating in Britain.