Has anybody upgraded for whatever reason to a new one minute tacho? I believe both vdo and stoneridge make the said beast. I regularely run with a chap who has one fitted and he is often aprox. 30 mins better of than me per 4.5 hours. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Not cheap. I have changed yes your better off with less hours recorded per day i would not like to go back to the old one i save hours every week
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a one minute tacho, please?
LoadsOfHorses:
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a one minute tacho, please?
I think the OP is referring to the new type digital tachographs 
The new tachographs are programmed to work differently to the old ones, with the older digital tachographs if you do any driving in a minute even if it’s only a few seconds the whole minute will be recorded as driving, under certain circumstances this can waste a lot of your allowed driving time during the shift.
With the new tachographs the minute will be recorded as the activity that took up the majority of the minute, so if in any complete minute you did 29 seconds driving and 31 minutes other work the whole minute will be recorded as other work.
and whats the cost of this upgrade,we are getting 2 57 plate volvos next week
Thanks, Tachograph 
Sounds like a more driver-friendly tacho!
#scotty#:
and whats the cost of this upgrade,we are getting 2 57 plate volvos next week
iirc it’s about £600
I think there’s two approved models
dtco.vdo.com/generator/www/c … co_de.html
I’ve thought about it as I have noticed lost minutes when I’m doing multi pick ups
thanks for your replies. I have been quoted £550 and told that the vdo unit is the best option. Any body looking for a four year old mark one vdo tacho 
I know one chap who has had one fitted to a 55 plate wagon that started off on an analogue and he reckons it was worth every penny. One spot we were tipping he put it on break when he got on the weighbridge and even though he then pulled off the bridge to park up and then backed into a shed to tip and back out onto the weighbridge it recorded break the whole time because at no point did he move for more than half of any given minute. He got a 45 in while we were there and I only got a 15 and had to take another half hour later on…
Of course that is technically illegal though I would think, creating a false record and all that, but it seems to work for him.
Paul
Thanks repton that really gives me more to think about. but this is becoming a bit of ajoke, analogue, mk1 digi(2min rule 
) and now 1 minute rule, a level playing field i think not 
i have a brand new 12 plate merc to drive and on the same run as a 10 plate daf from Rotterdam to Orleans with tipping and loading the same place’s I did over 20 mins less driving I also had to do a trailer change. but as soon as it moves it wont record as on break it defaults to other work as soon as it stops (the DAF defaults to break)
repton:
I know one chap who has had one fitted to a 55 plate wagon that started off on an analogue and he reckons it was worth every penny. One spot we were tipping he put it on break when he got on the weighbridge and even though he then pulled off the bridge to park up and then backed into a shed to tip and back out onto the weighbridge it recorded break the whole time because at no point did he move for more than half of any given minute. He got a 45 in while we were there and I only got a 15 and had to take another half hour later on…Of course that is technically illegal though I would think, creating a false record and all that, but it seems to work for him.
Paul
i know a tipper firm that have had these new taco’s retro fitted and they are worth every penny, over the period of a week the time saved is very handy!, these new taco’s are far more driver friendly than the analogue versions fitted to the older trucks
if you run close to your hours thes new taco’s will pull you away from the limit at the worst case, or can turn a 10 hr drive/day into a 9 or even a 15 hr spread into a 13
moose
i wouldnt call him a chap. lol
repton:
I know one chap who has had one fitted to a 55 plate wagon that started off on an analogue and he ireckons it was worth every penny. One spot we were tipping he put it on break when he got on the weighbridge and even though he then pulled off the bridge to park up and then backed into a shed to tip and back out onto the weighbridge it recorded break the whole time because at no point did he move for more than half of any given minute. He got a 45 in while we were there and I only got a 15 and had to take another half hour later on…Of course that is technically illegal though I would think, creating a false record and all that, but it seems to work for him.
Paul
i was waiting in a que to tip today, i moved 3 times, no more than the length of my lorry and trailer. After i stopped each time the digi display went onto work for a few seconds then back onto bed. After it did it the 3rd time (3rd movement), i did a print out and it read that id had over an hour on bed. Handy!
repton:
Of course that is technically illegal though I would think, creating a false record and all that, but it seems to work for him.Paul
But ‘well handy’ if your tipping rapeseed at Brocklebank this week
Ross.
bigr250:
But ‘well handy’ if your tipping rapeseed at Brocklebank this week
Or pretty much any other week really, bloody place…
Paul
My boss changed my anolgue to a stoneridge se 5000 exakt I’m well happy gained about 40 mins driving time so I can make it back to yard without having a second break
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Thanks again for your replies they are just what i was looking for. Should i go and spend £550 on something i can ill afford and do not really need ? Could i be fairly prosecuted for minor infringements i.e. 10-15 mins over a 4.5 hour driving period ? I think not ! At the moment i am very busy, (burning diesel) yesterday i was 8 mins over my second driving period and 10 mins today, is that an offence?
Can you move off at 31 seconds past the minute and continue round to 29 seconds past the next minute,
allowing 58 seconds movement while still showing break? Could be enough to get off a bay.
I’m not sure if this helps or not.
On the original digi tachos - when the vehicle stops and cross-hammers appears on the screen - for the next 2 minutes the tacho will continue to record driving. So pull away after 90 seconds and you get 2 minutes of driving recorded.
However - if you press the mode switch within that 90 seconds and go back round to cross-hammers - the tacho will record cross-hammers from when the vehicle stopped.
In stop start traffic - although a pain having to keep using the mode switch I believe this can save a good few minutes and is far cheaper than a new tacho
However … this is all just theory as I haven’t tried it. 
Anyone gonna give it a go and let me know?