AS regards to this discussion, If you have read the post where
I put both the German and English version , you will see that its
law over here,Why not then use a form which is recognised,
and so save you writing a letter in German to explain why
you do not have a record for that day,To me it makes sense and saves
time and trouble, and up ti now no one has been done for using this form
for this ,
brit pete:
Why not then use a form which is recognised, and so save you writing a letter
Because there isn’t a form for use to account for a weekly rest period, probably because there is no requirement to do so under the EU Driver’s Hours Regulations. As you are so fond of pointing out those rules apply across the EU and as Germany is part of the EU those rules apply there. In over 20 years of driving in Germany and being stopped in more controls than I can count I have never used any letter or form to account for weekly rest, only for holiday periods, and have never had a problem or even been asked to produce anything other than the normal tachograph records, be they digital or analogue. That includes periods of weekly rest totalling 3 or 4 days.
delboytwo:
i was trained on tacho’s by a trainer that had done Europe for 20 years that when done work in an other country when you have a weekly rest say you finish on Friday put i line on the back and put SWR (start weekly rest) and for the days you were no driving fill a chart in with the day and reg, mileage on on the back put weekly rest till you go back to work and the the first tacho you use put on the back EWR (end weekly rest) he then would have 7 tacho’s for each week and no missing days
what about what del has said is this correct 
brit pete:
AS regards to this discussion, If you have read the post where
I put both the German and English version , you will see that its
law over here,Why not then use a form which is recognised,
and so save you writing a letter in German to explain why
you do not have a record for that day,To me it makes sense and saves
time and trouble, and up ti now no one has been done for using this form
for this ,
I couldnt understand the translation so I used the original German text.
However the regulations, say this about attestation forms.
Member States are not obliged to require the use of this form, but if a Member State requires a form to be used for the cases foreseen in it, this form will be recognised valid for such purposes.
All the fields in this form must be filled in and it must be signed both by the company representative and by the driver in order to be valid. For self-employed drivers, the driver signs once as the company and once as the driver.
The text of the form may not be modified.
Only the signed original is valid.
(**) Only one of the boxes 13, 14 or 15 may be chosen
So to use the form as you suggest Pete, it means you have to either, modify it or use boxes 13, 14 or 15.
If you want to do anything on an analogue tacho, draw some lines on the back of the card while you are parked up or sat in the house. I have never seen the regulation that says you must deface your card and write SOD or EOD on the recording surface either.
I have heard drivers and transport managers insisting you must do this, so I found this whilst killing time.
Tachograph charts are required to provide space on their reverse side to record additional information.
It is not acceptable for written entries to extend outside the centrefield area if they might interfere with chart recordings. If, for example, the driver’s name or a place name is so long it must be abbreviated in order to avoid any possible interference with the recordings, the full name should be noted on the reverse of the chart.
(33) The introduction of recording equipment pursuant to
Regulation (EC) No 2135/98, enabling the activities of a
driver over a 28-day period to be recorded electronically
on his driver card and electronic records of vehicle
operations to cover a 365-day period, will in future make
for more rapid and comprehensive roadside checks.
(34) Under Directive 88/599/EEC (3) roadside checks are
confined to daily driving time, daily rest periods, and
breaks. When digital recording equipment is introduced
driver and vehicle data will be stored electronically and
data will be able to be evaluated electronically on the
spot. This should, over time, enable simple checks to be
carried out on regular and reduced daily rest periods and
on regular and reduced weekly rest periods and
compensatory rest.
No mention of keeping additional records on attestation forms
Wheel Nut:
draw some lines on the back of the card while you are parked up or sat in the house. I have never seen the regulation that says you must deface your card and write SOD or EOD on the recording surface either.
it shows you how to do it in the GV 262 2009
Manual entries
Drivers must produce a record of their whole daily working period. So when drivers are unable to operate the instrument, have not been allocated a vehicle, or are working away from the vehicle and have had to remove their tachograph chart, they must manually record their activities on the chart. Manual entries may also be needed at other times — for example, if the tachograph develops a fault, or in the event of an emergency (see ‘Unforseen events’ on page 19). Employers may also ask drivers to indicate on a chart where their duty (or rest) begins and ends, so that they can ensure that a full record has been submitted.
Most analogue charts have a specified place to make manual entries (usually on the reverse). However, manual entries can be made anywhere on the chart provided that they are clear and do not obliterate other recordings.
ok we are starting to do germany so dont want to get stung! so can someone tell me where i stand and the best course of action to take. I work for a big company. I work sunday to friday generally and always home for my weekend rest. as it is a big company my truck is used at weekends. so my end mileage is different to my start mileage when i start back for another week as obviously the truck is being used by different drivers at the weekend. Do i need a letter to explain this truck is used at weekends to explain the missing mileage?
scaniav8power:
ok we are starting to do germany so dont want to get stung! so can someone tell me where i stand and the best course of action to take. I work for a big company. I work sunday to friday generally and always home for my weekend rest. as it is a big company my truck is used at weekends. so my end mileage is different to my start mileage when i start back for another week as obviously the truck is being used by different drivers at the weekend. Do i need a letter to explain this truck is used at weekends to explain the missing mileage?
No you don’t, the onus is always on the authorities to prove you have been working, if they have suspicions, rather than you having to prove you weren’t and if stopped the regulations only require you to produce any tacho records for the current day and the previous 28 days, nothing more.
The truck I drive is used while I am on my weekly rest so the mileages are different and it has never been a problem in Germany. I got back from Germany this afternoon and began my weekly rest. The truck is being used to go to Bristol and back tonight and I will be heading back to Germany on Monday and I won’t have a letter or form for the period between 17:00 today and 05:00 Monday. I don’t anticipate any problems if I am stopped next week. Exact same scenario a couple of weeks ago and I was pulled in a control in Germany. They checked my digi card and never mentioned any of the gaps in the records caused by weekly rest, not even the 3 day gap where I had taken a Monday off in addition to the Saturday and Sunday. I kinda wish they had because the argument would have been fun.
If you work Sunday to Friday every week make sure you are meeting the weekly rest requirements because that will be a far bigger issue than a letter or form if you haven’t had enough weekly rest.
scaniav8power:
ok we are starting to do germany so dont want to get stung! so can someone tell me where i stand and the best course of action to take. I work for a big company. I work sunday to friday generally and always home for my weekend rest. as it is a big company my truck is used at weekends. so my end mileage is different to my start mileage when i start back for another week as obviously the truck is being used by different drivers at the weekend. Do i need a letter to explain this truck is used at weekends to explain the missing mileage?
Simply remove & complete Fridays analogue card or remove your digital card AFTER entering finishing place and any manual entry that is necessary. On Monday either complete your analogue centrefield or insert your digital card.
A digital head will record what you did on Friday, what time you removed your card and who else drove the truck before you start your next shift on Monday. That is why I prefer a digital tachograph and an automatic gearbox 
If you want to mark the analogue card, turn it over and draw a line on it corresponding to your end of duty, you could even draw a full 24 hours bed on Saturdays blank card and mark 21 hours bed on Sundays card. I dont know why you would want to though.
Sorry about that. Coffeeholic has already answered the question much more succinctly than I could and by using less letters 
Wheel Nut:
Sorry about that. Coffeeholic has already answered the question much more succinctly than I could and by using less letters
He’s good at that 
.
Thanks for all the chat lads. The point i was badly trying to make was that i have been stopped in many countries by many authorities many times including Germany and nobody has pointed this out before. just goes to show different bloke different fine but no problem the company pays the fines. “KEEP ON TRUCKING”
Coffeeholic:
scaniav8power:
ok we are starting to do germany so dont want to get stung! so can someone tell me where i stand and the best course of action to take. I work for a big company. I work sunday to friday generally and always home for my weekend rest. as it is a big company my truck is used at weekends. so my end mileage is different to my start mileage when i start back for another week as obviously the truck is being used by different drivers at the weekend. Do i need a letter to explain this truck is used at weekends to explain the missing mileage?No you don’t, the onus is always on the authorities to prove you have been working, if they have suspicions, rather than you having to prove you weren’t and if stopped the regulations only require you to produce any tacho records for the current day and the previous 28 days, nothing more.
The truck I drive is used while I am on my weekly rest so the mileages are different and it has never been a problem in Germany. I got back from Germany this afternoon and began my weekly rest. The truck is being used to go to Bristol and back tonight and I will be heading back to Germany on Monday and I won’t have a letter or form for the period between 17:00 today and 05:00 Monday. I don’t anticipate any problems if I am stopped next week. Exact same scenario a couple of weeks ago and I was pulled in a control in Germany. They checked my digi card and never mentioned any of the gaps in the records caused by weekly rest, not even the 3 day gap where I had taken a Monday off in addition to the Saturday and Sunday. I kinda wish they had because the argument would have been fun.
If you work Sunday to Friday every week make sure you are meeting the weekly rest requirements because that will be a far bigger issue than a letter or form if you haven’t had enough weekly rest.
thanks for that coffeeholic. I normally just do Holland so never normally get any problems so just wanted to make sure i was ok if we start venturing into Germany on a regular basis. with regards to the sunday to friday i normally use to finish on a friday morning to start again sunday afternoon. I have though recently changed to 5 6 56. You try telling a dutch manager about hours regs etc and they just dont seem to grasp it! all they seem to think is 24hr off 9hr off! but my contract says 5 out of 7 days so he aint got a leg to stand on really. I work for an english company so he wasnt going to argue to much when i said i wasnt doing 6 days every week anymore!