I heard some time ago that to continue driving trucks in this country ypou would need to have a photo card licence, can anyone tell me if this is true and when it will start?.
I only drive occasionaly and need to know about this so i can get the company to pay up!!!.
At present its only when you renew your licence. i.e when you get points added/removed, upgrade your licence etc. etc.
Jammy,
Its been a while since you posted, so I dont know if you will pick this up, but here goes anyway…
I was stopped a few months back by the (then) Ministry and duly presented my Licence etc. etc. It was part of their Operation Mermaid and my mistake was to stop at Maidstone Services (I think?) for a break.
The geezer examining my ‘paper’ licence was aghast… He remonstrated with me quite vigorously at not having the ‘new’ style photo-licence informing me that ‘when the new (fully) digital type tachographs come into force, we will need to have the card type to log on…’
I know that subsequently no approved tacho’ has come about and there is talk of employers providing the log-on cards, seperate from the licence as not many have changed from paper to card yet.
There is also the issue of DVLA reducing or even dropping the charges for some licence applications/changes to encourage greater movement, however, I do believe a sudden influx of applications to change would overwhelm them and cause backlogs etc. etc.
I’ve recently changed mine and was fortunate to have a ‘post-code’ change to my address!! Everything else was exactly the same, just a ‘code’ change, so, it cost nothing, just the postage and photo, a real bonus.
Terry
Tosh. There’s nothing on the photocard licence that has anything to do with digital tachos. Never has been, and probably won’t be unless they change them again.
I can for see this happening, you work part time or maybe on the agency you leave your digtical tacho in the truck,what happens next tine you want to work? 
Big Piggy:
The geezer examining my ‘paper’ licence was aghast… He remonstrated with me quite vigorously at not having the ‘new’ style photo-licence informing me that ‘when the new (fully) digital type tachographs come into force, we will need to have the card type to log on…’
Isn’t it strange, and a little worrying, that the people checking up on us don’t know the regulations?
There was a rumour that you would need a photo licence to obtain the smart card for the Digital Tacho but this isn’t true. Having a photo licence will make applying for the smartcard easier and maybe quicker but it isn’t compulsory.
On the Governments offical website for the digital tacho they have the following:
Do I have to have a photocard drivers’ licence?
Your driver card has to have a photograph and digitised signature on it. If you are a photocard licence holder DVLA will use your photograph and signature you have already provided for your driving licence. All you will need to do is complete an application form.If you are not then with the completed application form you will need to send in a photograph and supporting ID documents [passport etc] to get your smart card issued.
Note
You can use this opportunity to exchange your paper licence for a photorised version. You will need to complete a driving licence application form D1 [available as above and also from Post Offices] enclosing a photograph, identity documents and driving licence, and send this at the same time as your smart card application.
You can find the FAQ on the Digital Tacho here.
One question they don’t answer on the website is one I would like answered, is ‘photorised’ , as used above, a real word because I can’t find it in the dictionary? 
It suits me and i wish it was true my boss has already offered to pay for a photo licence but i dont particularly want one to be honest, i dont particularly want to drive trucks any more either BUT their may be occasions the agency could phone me and i havent got any plans so i can help them out ( at £16 an hour weekends you feel you have to help them don,t you?).
Theres one thing that puzzles me though about these new digital tacho,s , you see i used to work for the most unorganised pile of ■■■■■ in this country namely Securicor (whats the difference in an arse and an elbow) Omega (apparently) Logistics (i hasten to add), and after on several occasions sitting around for up to 6/7 hours ( 10 hours was the max as far as i know by another driver) waiting for a unit and obviously counting as “on duty” time, how is a driver who needs to plug his digital tacho in to a machine going to record this?.
Is there going to be a massive piece of paper on the back especially for SOL ( DHL, lmao) drivers not only to record their time waiting for a unit but also to record their " had to run over time to get their due to it being a high value load excuse".
Can someone explain this to me?, where are exceptions going to be recorded?.