Hi there,
Was driving for a company the other day and was asked to do multidrop in a 3.5t iveco turbo daily.
This vehicle had an electronic tacho on board. Being a 3.5t vehicle is the use of the tacho required legally or can anyone think of another reason why it was fitted??
GMANSCAN
I’ve seen some 6t vehicle with them fitted that had to be used.
Our company has them fitted to all the vehicles from 3.5t upwards.
Has a tow hitch on it??
smeserver,
no hitch on this vehicle. Was a bit daunting though first time using a tacho and then at the end of the day the thing didnt track on it so had no record of what I did.
Was asking generally as I wasn’t sure if I had broken the law!!
GMANSCAN
GMANSCAN
GMANSCAN:
smeserver,no hitch on this vehicle. Was a bit daunting though first time using a tacho and then at the end of the day the thing didnt track on it so had no record of what I did.
GMANSCAN
Um, silly question perhaps but are you sure you didn’t put it in backwards/upsidedown/wrongsideup ■■ 
You never broke the law…maybe only the company rule…if it never recorded then you must have put the chart in wrong…you sure you neve put the disc in the 2nd driver space…it would have recorded only rest…
Its probably easier to have the tacho fitted at the factory or dealer rather than retrofitting, or it may have been bought in anticipation of some rule change in Europe.
Or maybe it is just company policy to use them, but if that is the case they should have showed you how it works.
[quote=“Wheel Nut”
Or maybe it is just company policy to use them[/quote]
I would agree with the above, although possibly if the vehicle is second hand it may originally have had a tow bar fitted and could have had a tacho fitted for this reason (?)
Some of them Iveco Dailys are more than 3.5 ton have you checked its not heavier than it looks?.
Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone!
Somethings I never thought of there like the antipation for rule changes etc. The vehicles are almost brand new and never had tow bars fitted. The vans have been bought to do multidrop only so the use of the back doors is obvisously required for getting quite heafty parcels in and out quickly.
I agree the company should show me how to use the tachos but the guys didnt seem interested one little bit. At the end of the day its my driving licence so I suppose I should have insisted instead of taking the van with doubts in my mind.
I will make sure I get somebody to show me next time.
Cheers
GMANSCAN
All I can think of is that your company had them fitted just incase, for example if a trailer was ever to be used in the future. Or, your van is plated over 3.5t which as has been said some vans are, especially Daily’s. I’m no expert but if your van is plated at 3.5t and is driven as such, without a trailer etc then you don’t need to use a tacho even if it is fitted as you come under the domestic driving regs rather than the EU ones and as far as you’re concerned you’d just drive it the same as you would any other van.
No legal requirement to use a tacho in anything 3.5t or less even if one is fitted.
The company may want you to use them as a meands of keeping track of you, so they can make sure you’re not skiving or driving for dangerously long periods without a break.
dennisw1:
No legal requirement to use a tacho in anything 3.5t or less even if one is fitted.The company may want you to use them as a meands of keeping track of you, so they can make sure you’re not skiving or driving for dangerously long periods without a break.
Exactly and as it seems they couldn’t be arsed to explain how to use it (if they even knew!) then I wouldn’t even bother with it anyway. If they want you to use it, make them show you how until you understand how to use it, nobody can be expected to know how to use a tacho or anything else for that matter without being told how first.