I would like to pick the brains of some of the experienced peeps on here, saved the operating capital, got the operators license, picking up a 2nd hand truck tomorrow!!
Now this is what i could do with some help with, obviously in line with the grant of the o license and the maintenance agreement I have to get the truck serviced within 2 weeks, this is fine.
What i need to know is:- 1) where do I stand with the tachograph does it need downloading before I start using it?
2) is there anything else I need to do before I start using it?
On a side note do you chaps look after your tacho downloading and drivers tachograph checks or do you get a 3rd party to do it?
I don’t doubt these may seem like silly questions but I hope you can help me out!
The easiest way to sort the digital tachograph stuff out is to buy a truck with an analogue tacho
But to be a little more helpful… As well as your driver card you will (as I understand it) need the following:
A company card.
A card reader for downloading your driver card.
A download tool for downloading the data in the tacho.
Some software for your PC to make the above two things work.
I don’t think there’s anything you HAVE to do when you get it but I think it’s recommended that you use your company card to “lock” the information in the tacho so that it can only be downloaded by you. This means when you come to sell the unit all your data is not accessible to the next owner. Hopefully someone else will be along shortly who knows a bit more about these things…
You don’t need to download the tacho before you start but you do need to insert a “company card” to sync the unit with your business. Do an internet search for digi tach company cards and you should find where to apply for one. You then need to download the tacho head unit every month along with the driver cards. Driver cards maybe every week to be on the safe side. The tacho head unit holds a years data and the driver card holds minimum one month, more like 2-3 months data.
I use the siemens servers to store my data which I upload via the internet, pay as you go storage service, pretty cheap and means the data is very safe and can’t go down the drain if your computer goes kaput or gets pinched. They also sell download products for the head unit and cards. You can also generate driver infringement letters and other reports via the service.
