Yesterday, I’d had a 15 min break and was on my way to a workshop to get something done on the truck. I got there with a drive time showing of 4hr 29min. I took my card out so I could register my break while the fitter did what he needed to do, I’m pretty certain I switched the tacho to break before ejecting. He drove the truck around a little then did his work, but I stuck my head into the cab when the truck was parked and made sure the tacho was reading a break.
About 35mins later he’d finished and I got back in and put my card back in, expecting to see it register I’d had my full 45mins. I confess I’m new to manual entries so I may sound like an utter numpty here: Having done a manual entry first thing that morning I’m assuming the tacho was still in “manual mode” and maybe I messed something up putting the card back in, but the tacho didn’t record this time as a break and my printout clearly shows an infringement.
So my questions are:
I believe I pressed “other work” after reinserting the card so that was why it didn’t register the break,and that I did this because I thought the tacho needed to know what I was doing now, ie other work, but on reflection I’m guessing the tacho wanted to know what I’d been doing ?
I presume the double lines indicate “card removed”, is that right?
Obviously if I get stopped I’ve got some explaining to do (hence the annotated printout), but how long do infringements stay “in date” ? Just for the 28 day period or further beyond that?
I just had similar experience.
Had tacho recalibrated on Tuesday dropped it off . Used different truck Wednesday got.it back Thursday.
Was driving my truck Thursday after 12.5 hours got a message saying rest required soon .then said rest required immediately.
I had done 1 15 hour shift all week did a second on Thursday yet truck thinks I’ve done 3 for some reason.
Only thing I reckon when calibrated tacho they obviously did put it on rest and presumes somone was using it.
Hopefully when get print out later won’t get infringement
Doesn’t matter what mode it is on however you have to leave it on the mode you want for in some cases 2 minutes depending on the model of digi tacho due to how it calculates how to record each individual minute. Sticking it on rest and then just ejecting the card isn’t enough because if the majority of the previous minute was other work then that is what it would record for the partial minute in which you ejected the card.
When he drove the truck it would automatically switch to driving and then other work, it would also record no card unless he was using a workshop card which most don’t bother with.
Tachos don’t remain in manual mode once you’ve done a manual entry and confirmed it.
You needed to do a manual entry for a break when you reinserted the card covering the time since the card was taken out.
Infringements can stay in date for up to 12 months as whilst your card only has to show 28 days the operator has to keep records for a year.
As already mentioned above, when you put your card in, after the mechanic finished with your vehicle, you should have done a manual entry to specify you were on Rest since your previous card eject, otherwise the tacho has no way of knowing what you were doing. When you put your card in, the tacho would have asked you whether you wanted to do a manual entry or not (if it is a Siemens tacho) or if you have been “on Rest until now?” (if it is a Stoneridge tacho). You would do exactly the same thing at start of your working shift.
The hatched lines on the print out indicate card ejected or inserted. The first hatched line in your photo, is for card ejected. The second hatched line indicates that you have inserted your card in to slot 1.
As you can see, the 38 minute period in between the two hatched lines indicates that you were working, not on break.
Fiddling about with tacho display while the mechanic was driving the vehicle has absolutely no effect on your duties, as your card was not in.
If you were stopped and queried by the authorities, you would tell them it’s just a simple manual entry error. This is probably the most common reason for an infringement.
Also, when you started driving after your break, (because you thought you had done a 15 + 30), if you see that the driving time has not been reset then something is wrong. e.g. the break was not completed.
Conor:
When he drove the truck it would automatically switch to driving and then other work, it would also record no card unless he was using a workshop card which most don’t bother with.
That’s not what a workshop card is used for - its only purpose is to allow an authorised tachograph technician to carry out calibration, UTC adjustments etc. Most mechanics won’t have such a card (or the required PIN to actually use it), and even if they do have one, they won’t be using it when working on anything other than the tachograph. If the vehicle is driven with a workshop card in Slot 1, it’ll still flag up “Driving without card”.
If anyone has a link to an “Tachos for Dummies” article I for one would be happy to read it.
One of my recent CPC days was all about Tachos, digital and analogue, but was just the usual “sit and watch Powerpoint and listen to bad jokes” kind of day. It would have been more valuable if they’d had some kind of proper training setup, with a practice tacho head and card, that way people could get some valuable practice if they wanted it, after all, a First Aid trainer wouldn’t turn up to a training day without a Resuci Annie to practice on, would they?
