I have just bought a digicard reader together with Fraikin Tachomaster software. It all seems too sophisticated for me. All I want to do is to download the data from my own card onto my own computer. Is there a simple way of doing this? I don’t want any clever analysis, just the basic data like on the printout.
If you just want basic info like printout then y dont you just do a printout at end of shift ■■?
Tachomaster software is easy to use u just stick card in reader and let it download info it works everything out for you all you have to do is open in the calander view and it will show you all you have done and what you have left.
We aren’t allowed to do printouts, owing to the cost to the company. Us agency drivers have to carry our own paper with us, and if we want to do a printout we have to insert our own paper in the machine, do the printout, and then remove our paper. Apparently we only have to do printouts if we think we have an infringement (such as forgetting to switch mode to rest), and we need to make a manual entry.
Don’t you have to pay Tachomaster for this service?
Tralfamadore:
We aren’t allowed to do printouts, owing to the cost to the company. Us agency drivers have to carry our own paper with us, and if we want to do a printout we have to insert our own paper in the machine, do the printout, and then remove our paper. Apparently we only have to do printouts if we think we have an infringement (such as forgetting to switch mode to rest), and we need to make a manual entry.Don’t you have to pay Tachomaster for this service?
Well you can go and tell your agency and/or the company you work for that they have a legal obligation to provide you with rolls of paper…it’s not up to you at all. below is a copy of the text from the big book of law, provided with the link to download, print and read yourself 
Responsibilities of operators
Operators of transport undertakings have legal responsibilities and liabilities for their own compliance with the regulations and that of the drivers under their control. Transport undertakings must:
-ensure that tachographs have been calibrated, inspected and re-calibrated in line with the rules;
-supply sufficient quantity of type-approved charts and print roll to drivers;
-properly instruct drivers on the rules;
-ensure the return of used tachograph charts from drivers. Note that this responsibility continues after a driver has left employment until all charts are returned;
-properly schedule work so the rules are met;
-not make payments to drivers related to distances travelled and/or the amount of goods carried if that would encourage breaches of the rules;
-download data from the Vehicle Unit:
—at least every 56 calendar days;
—immediately before transferring control of the use of the vehicle to another person (for example, when the vehicle is sold or de-hired);
—without delay upon permanently removing the unit from service in the vehicle;
—without delay upon becoming aware that the unit is malfunctioning, if it is possible to download data;
—without delay in any circumstances where it is reasonably foreseeable that data will be erased imminently; and
—in any case as often as necessary to ensure that no data is lost (the Vehicle Unit holds 365 days’ worth of average data, after which the memory is full and the oldest data is overwritten and lost);
- download data from driver cards:
—at least every 28 calendar days;
—immediately before the driver ceases to be employed by the undertaking (remember that this also applies to agency drivers);
—without delay upon being aware that the card has been damaged or is malfunctioning, if it is possible to download data;
—without delay in any circumstances where it is reasonably foreseeable that data will be erased imminently;
—where it is only possible to download the card via a Vehicle Unit (for example, if the card is stuck), immediately before ceasing control of the use of the vehicle; and
—in any case as often as necessary to ensure that no data is lost (the driver card holds 28 days of average data, after which the memory is full and the oldest data is overwritten and lost. An average day is deemed to be 93 activity changes. In certain operations where more than 93 activity changes are recorded in a day, a driver card may hold less than 28 days of data);
-make regular checks of charts and digital data to ensure compliance;
-be able to produce records to enforcement officers for 12 months; and
-take all reasonable steps to prevent breaches of the rules.
transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/r … Europe.pdf
Next time you go to work I would either demand that they supply you with tacho rolls or offer to pay the full price for your card downloader and Tachomaster software…they have no choice but to agree to one or the other. I’d suggest printing off this publication and taking it to show them.
Even though you are an agency driver, it clearly says that transport companies have to issue rolls to any driver under their control…and you are under their control whilst on assignment, so they have to give you the rolls…no two ways about it
The company are legally required to supply rolls of printout paper but they have no obligation to allow you to use it to do printouts for your own records.
You can usually get printout paper quite cheap on eBay 
If you’re not supplied with paper then you should point out to the TM that they’re breaking the law, when the vehicle goes on the road there should be enough printout paper so that printouts can be done by anyone authorised to request them.
tachograph:
The company are legally required to supply rolls of printout paper but they have no obligation to allow you to use it to do printouts for your own records.You can usually get printout paper quite cheap on eBay
If you’re not supplied with paper then you should point out to the TM that they’re breaking the law, when the vehicle goes on the road there should be enough printout paper so that printouts can be done by anyone authorised to request them.
You sure about that?..Thats a really backwards rule. You by any chance know where thats written down? The book that drivers get given doesn’t cover everything. To be honest though, If a company gave me some roles then I would use (if i wanted to), whether they liked it or not.
Got to admit though, there are a lot of stupid rules out there.
Adam_Mc:
tachograph:
The company are legally required to supply rolls of printout paper but they have no obligation to allow you to use it to do printouts for your own records.You can usually get printout paper quite cheap on eBay
If you’re not supplied with paper then you should point out to the TM that they’re breaking the law, when the vehicle goes on the road there should be enough printout paper so that printouts can be done by anyone authorised to request them.
You sure about that?..Thats a really backwards rule. You by any chance know where thats written down? The book that drivers get given doesn’t cover everything. To be honest though, If a company gave me some roles then I would use (if i wanted to), whether they liked it or not.
Got to admit though, there are a lot of stupid rules out there.
It’s unlikely to be written anywhere, there’s no obligation for a company to require a printout or for a driver to do a printout unless there needs to be a manual entry on one, therefore unless a manual entry is required the company would be perfectly within their rights to stop you using their paper rolls to do printouts just for your own personal records
By personal records I am not of course referring to any printouts that are legally required for manual entry purposes.
As an agency driver Tralfamadore could well be risking his job by not complying with the companies request not to use their paper for his own personal records, but that in no way exempts them from the obligation to provide printout paper for the digital tachograph.
I’ll wait to be corrected on this but don’t really expect to be
tachograph:
Adam_Mc:
tachograph:
The company are legally required to supply rolls of printout paper but they have no obligation to allow you to use it to do printouts for your own records.You can usually get printout paper quite cheap on eBay
If you’re not supplied with paper then you should point out to the TM that they’re breaking the law, when the vehicle goes on the road there should be enough printout paper so that printouts can be done by anyone authorised to request them.
You sure about that?..Thats a really backwards rule. You by any chance know where thats written down? The book that drivers get given doesn’t cover everything. To be honest though, If a company gave me some roles then I would use (if i wanted to), whether they liked it or not.
Got to admit though, there are a lot of stupid rules out there.
It’s unlikely to be written anywhere, there’s no obligation for a company to require a printout or for a driver to do a printout unless there needs to be a manual entry on one, therefore unless a manual entry is required the company would be perfectly within their rights to stop you using their paper rolls to do printouts just for your own personal records
By personal records I am not of course referring to any printouts that are legally required for manual entry purposes.
As an agency driver Tralfamadore could well be risking his job by not complying with the companies request not to use their paper for his own personal records, but that in no way exempts them from the obligation to provide printout paper for the digital tachograph.
I’ll wait to be corrected on this but don’t really expect to be
Thats really backwards though isn’t it. I’d argue that I needed to do printouts every time in order to monitor hours, and as I’m working for them, it’s only fair I am able to use their resources…as an agency driver there isn’t really any other way to do it.
But by going on that basis…do you think that the agency may then have a legal obligation to allow you to use their rolls in order to monitor your hours? I mean, I know you could write stuff down, but lets face it, digi tachos have strange ways of recording activities, so you may think all is good when in fact it may not be.
I’d say the agency have an obligation to monitor your hours but have no obligation to provide you with the writing or printing material for you to monitor your own hours.
By the way I keep a record of my hours, both working hours and driving hours but never do printouts, the information can easily be read from the tachograph without the need for a printout
Tralfamadore:
We aren’t allowed to do printouts, owing to the cost to the company. Us agency drivers have to carry our own paper with us, and if we want to do a printout we have to insert our own paper in the machine, do the printout, and then remove our paper. Apparently we only have to do printouts if we think we have an infringement (such as forgetting to switch mode to rest), and we need to make a manual entry.Don’t you have to pay Tachomaster for this service?
You will be charged £ 1 per week per Worker, if you wish to also download and store your vehicle data you will be charged 50p per week per Vehicle. If there are no times entered for the week for a Worker or Vehicle you will not be charged for that week.
Not a lot at all i think concidering it works everything out for you including WTD and you can print off all sorts of info.
paper rolls are about £5.00 for 3 allthough you can get from ebay cheeper
tony66:
Tralfamadore:
We aren’t allowed to do printouts, owing to the cost to the company. Us agency drivers have to carry our own paper with us, and if we want to do a printout we have to insert our own paper in the machine, do the printout, and then remove our paper. Apparently we only have to do printouts if we think we have an infringement (such as forgetting to switch mode to rest), and we need to make a manual entry.Don’t you have to pay Tachomaster for this service?
You will be charged £ 1 per week per Worker, if you wish to also download and store your vehicle data you will be charged 50p per week per Vehicle. If there are no times entered for the week for a Worker or Vehicle you will not be charged for that week.
Not a lot at all i think concidering it works everything out for you including WTD and you can print off all sorts of info.
paper rolls are about £5.00 for 3 allthough you can get from ebay cheeper
I’ve thought about buying my own software and reader to atch my own hours…as you say it’s a lot easier than reading all those print outs. With regards to the pricing though…is it say £50 to buy the software and then £1 per week to use it or have I got this wrong?
Adam_Mc:
tony66:
Tralfamadore:
We aren’t allowed to do printouts, owing to the cost to the company. Us agency drivers have to carry our own paper with us, and if we want to do a printout we have to insert our own paper in the machine, do the printout, and then remove our paper. Apparently we only have to do printouts if we think we have an infringement (such as forgetting to switch mode to rest), and we need to make a manual entry.Don’t you have to pay Tachomaster for this service?
You will be charged £ 1 per week per Worker, if you wish to also download and store your vehicle data you will be charged 50p per week per Vehicle. If there are no times entered for the week for a Worker or Vehicle you will not be charged for that week.
Not a lot at all i think concidering it works everything out for you including WTD and you can print off all sorts of info.
paper rolls are about £5.00 for 3 allthough you can get from ebay cheeperI’ve thought about buying my own software and reader to atch my own hours…as you say it’s a lot easier than reading all those print outs. With regards to the pricing though…is it say £50 to buy the software and then £1 per week to use it or have I got this wrong?
The softwere is free all you need is a computer and a internet connection and a card reader thats it
I suppose in the longrun it’d be cheaper to go to Tachodisc.com and buy their ClockWatcher Lite for £95…at the end of the 2nd year you’d have saved £9, ten £52 for each year after that.
I have been using Tachospeed - tachospeed.com/index.php?id=72/strona/1
I also bought off ebay a card reader for around £10 and I am pleased with the results. The programme is Polish I think and I have tried to contact them, but no -one has got back to me and the programme seems to run ok - for free!!
Card reader on ebay at present no. 380106899958 (new) or 260374894657 (secondhand one).