Hi folks I’m a newbie hoping to be driving soon and I’m a bit confused about manual tachograph entries. In what cases do you have to put a manual entry in ?
To record any work you do at times when you don’t have your card or a chart in a tachograph.
For example if you have have to do paperwork in the office before going to the vehicle at the start of the shift or after you leave the vehicle at the end of the shift. Or if you do a shift when you don’t drive a tachograph vehicle, like driving a van or working in the yard.
I personally use or used to use in my case now, manual entries as a way of making my shift times easier to remember.
Previous company encouraged a stick it in and drive.
Current company i work for has the policy that all steering wheel attendants must use manual entries.
Ive found alot of people are scared of them and some experienced drivers give you the line “manual entries…eff that” but i think its down to them not being sure how to do them. I got some good advice on here, a youtube video and also used the company training sustem for 15 mins to make sure i had it right. Been doing them religiously for
just over a year and yet to have an infringement off them.
Do them, they keep you right. We all have time pre and post driving that needs recorded unless you are leaving your keys in the truck and have no paperwork.
If you’re a Newbie and don’t know what to do, grow a pair (play the Newbie card 
) and ask an experienced hand…
But bear in mind that a significant number of experienced blokes don’t actually know how to do manual entries…
Sent using smoke and mirrors
Radar19:
I personally use or used to use in my case now, manual entries as a way of making my shift times easier to remember.
Your no longer driving for a living?
123smith:
Radar19:
I personally use or used to use in my case now, manual entries as a way of making my shift times easier to remember.Your no longer driving for a living?
Nah, I drive on nights. I don’t need to remember when I started because I’m always getting in 11 hours rest.
a manual entry is a written lie to cover your bum when your over your time and are driving on,or for a multitude of reasons to make it not look so bad when your motoring on or interrupting a break…usually ensuring security of valuable load,diddycoys burgling your derv to cover you tipping during a break,etcetc…if all else fails,just lie and keep covered.itl never matter anyway unless you completely overdo it.
not so easy to explain if your running abroad as there all looking for a fine or a bung,but in the uk,its a doddle with little or no greif…in eire,then itl never matter unless your going out of your way to be a gobstick if ever stopped.
There are several official answers, although I like Dieseldog’s version of tachos!
Personally I very rarely use them and until I figured out all the important stuff and think the last time I did one was moving between trucks to account for the time gap. Just remember, the tacho isn’t your enemy and usually neither is VOSA. Actually on that note, when I got stopped I’d forgotten to show “other work” for walkaround checks, fill in a defect sheet and had a loose load but I’ve still got my bits attached so they’re not that bad.
Overall, don’t stress about them, there’s much more important stuff like not crashing into anything. 