To clear an âeventâ warning on a digital tacho simply press OK on a VDO (or the enter key on a Stoneridge), then press the same key again. The first key press âacknowledgesâ the warning, the second clears it from the display. The âeventâ will be recorded on the VU mass memory and in most cases, on the card. Events are;
insertion of a non valid card (either it has not reached itsâ start date or it has passed itsâ end date). Itâs not a tacho card or youâve put it in wrong way around or up, or your card is knackered.
overspeeding; you have exceeded the speed set in the tacho during calibration. In most cases this is 90 km/h.
driving without a card; the vehicle was moved without a driver card in slot one.
card inserted whilst driving; what this thread is all about.
time overlap; you put your card in a VU where the UTC is behind that of the VU the card has been last taken out of. This can happen when changing vehicles mid-shift. Effectively the VU will try to write activities for the same time period on the card twice. VUâs have their internal clocks set at calibration. They are not radio frequency controlled so may well not be exactly the same as UTC. If the VU time is more than 20 minutes from UTC the tacho has to be recalibrated.
power interruption; the constant power feed to the tacho has been disconnected.
motion data error; the signal to the tacho from the motion sensor on the gearbox has been interrupted.
security breach; either somebody has attempted to get into the casing or has tried to defeat the encryption used by the tacho.
last card session not correctly closed; when you eject a card from a VU a number of calculations have to be performed, if for some reason these arenât done, the last card session is termed not properly closed.
card conflict; when you put two cards in a VU that normally would not be used together eg, workshop card and a driver card.
Paper rolls; Article 14.1 of (EEC) 3821/85 requires you carry âsufficientâ type approved paper to carry out printing. Remember itâs not just for roadside checks, if you loose your card you must take a printout at the start and end of your shift. If you get delayed on a journey eg a crash on the motorway, you must take a printout as soon as you get to the safe parking location and record the reason for the delay on the printout. Sufficient is not defined but under normal conditions a couple of rolls should do. The legislation does not say that the paper has to be in the tacho, just available. It is prosecutable, last case I know of; driver got ÂŁ250 and the employer ÂŁ400. Although to be fair, the truck had run into a number of stationary cars so I donât think the Magistrates were feeling very sympathetic. Moral of the story, carrying a few rolls of paper is cheaper.