Article 15 (7) of Council Regulation EEC3820/85 requires that, when requested by the nice policeman or VOSA examiner you must be able to produce the following;
- the chart currently in use (hopefully it’s in the tacho head)
- all the previous charts for the current week (a week starts at 00:00 hrs Monday and ends at 24:00 hrs the following Sunday).
- the last chart from the previous week in which you drove a controlled vehicle.
If you ONLY work Monday to Friday and get stopped on Thursday you will need to produce; Thursday (in the tacho head), Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday and last Friday. Hopefully the previous charts will be all nice and neat in your chart box or tacho envelope. Failing to produce any of the required charts will probably result in an immediate prohibition from further driving until the chart is produced. The examiner is quite within their powers to require ‘the original’ and not a fax or photocopy. Bit awkward if you get tugged in Northampton and the chart’s in the office at Sheffield. You can also expect a trip to Magistrates in addition to the prohibition, believe me, not a nice experience!
Charts must be returned to the vehicle operator (not necessarily your employer, for those that agency drive) within 21 days of their use. Having a chart that is 22 days old with you is an offence and can carry a fine of upto a maximum of £ 5000. The 21 day rule applies in the UK (Transport Act 1968), other countries in Europe have different time limits, although to be fair I’ve never had a problem with producing the legal minimum. Where the Europeans get suspicious is when your previous weeks chart shows you started duty in the middle of Euroland with no record of how you got there.