Association issues guidance on tachograph use

Prompted by a member query, the Association has worked with a solicitor specialising in transport law to clarify the rules concerning correct use of a tachograph and adherence to the EU drivers’ hours rules contained in EU Regulation 561/2006.  

The guidance below represents a shortened version of the detail available to members.  Please contact the technical officer for more information.

Whether or not an operation requires the use of a tachograph to record driving, depends on factors including:

• Weight of the vehicle
• Type of work for which the vehicle is used

In general, the need for a tachograph applies to all vehicles or a combination of a vehicle and trailer where the maximum permissible mass exceeds 3.5 tons.  Note the use of ‘maximum permissible’, inferring the potential weight of the vehicle and trailer – subject to their individual limitations specified by the manufacturer. 

Association members should check the maximum permissible mass of their vehicles and trailers, since the use of a trailer has the potential to bring a vehicle (which in itself may have a maximum permissible mass of less than 3.5 tons) into scope of the tachograph regulations. 

If the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle or vehicle and trailer exceeds 3.5 tons but does not exceed 7.5 tons, Association members may be able to take advantage of an exemption from tachograph use, providing the following conditions are met:

• The vehicle (and/if used, trailer) is carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the drivers use in the course of their work.
• The vehicle is being driven within 100km radius from the base of the undertaking.
• Driving does not constitute the driver’s main activity.

The “carrying of materials, equipment or machinery” would cover landscape construction materials such as sand, aggregates, cement, and horticultural products such as plants, mulch, and planting media.  “Equipment or machinery” would cover items such as cement mixers, hand tools, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, brush cutters as well as ride-on equipment. 

If the maximum mass of the vehicle or combination of vehicle and trailer exceeds 7.5 tons and the vehicle is being used for landscape construction purposes or if any of the other conditions are not met, than a tachograph must be installed, and the driver must follow the EU drivers’ hours rules.

If the vehicle is within scope for the EU drives’ hours rules, the business must also comply with the requirement to download data from the drivers tachograph at least every 28 days, download data from the vehicle at least every 90 days and analyse the data. 

Association members should be aware that if a driver is within scope, then drivers (even occasional drivers) must keep a full set of records for the current day and the previous 28 days.

Further reading

DVSA website: Drivers’ hours and tachographs