can anyone tell me if it is legal to mark a straight line on the front of a tacho one for start of shift and one for end.the co i am at insist on it otherwise you get the infringement form to sign.
Neil,
I think you`re supposed to put the lines for start and finish of duty on the back of the chart
Merry Christmas
Trev
thats what i thought but they say it should be on the front
my company and the last also had us do the same on the FRONT.
its perfectly legal as long as it does not interfere with the trace.
Word of caution though, if you go over the water in the course of your work don’t put the lines on the front of the tacho because over there they take a very dim view of it and in France and Spain in particular it will cost you a serious amount of Euros. 
It’s not illegal but there is also no legal requirement to do it, only a company policy, so the ‘infringements’ you are being asked to sign for are not tacho related but infringements of company policy, two different things in my book.
I was told, many moons ago, that SOD n EOD lines went on the front of the chart. You are commiting an offence if you obscure it though, so put your lines at least 15mins away from where the tacho-head will start or finish marking. Oh, and don’t forget to do the writing on the correct side of your line 
Mostly we don’t bother writing anything about start or end of day, we reckon its patently obvious that your day starts where the tacho head starts marking your chart and ends at the end 
There are a few companies who want you to do it. As you work for one of them, keep them happy. If possible, have a copy of the letter/memo which instructs you to do it, with you in your bag. That way, if you are unlucky enough to be pulled by someone with power, who doesn’t know enough about the rules, you are able to show them your instructions
Simon:
Mostly we don’t bother writing anything about start or end of day, we reckon its patently obvious that your day starts where the tacho head starts marking your chart and ends at the end
Not strictly true. A driver could have reported for duty but not have a vehicle available straight away and so doesn’t have access to a Tachograph to show the fact he is ‘On Duty.’ I think this is one of the reasons companies want the lines on the front, seems pointless when there are markings on the back for occasions such as this.
I have always written EDR/EWR (time) and SDR/SWR (time) on the front of mine. So far in my history of driving wagons I’ve been stopped 4 times (all routine ministry check-point affairs) and my tacho’s have been examined without any comment about the writing.
Neil, I’ll make a mental note of that re the foreigners and the writing. 
It is the law that requires you to draw a line at start and finish marking with the words ‘Start duty and end duty’ at the start and end time on the actual tracing face of the card, the trace must then start after the drawn line, if the line crosses the trace then that is an offence. If you don’t draw a start and end line you are breaking the law though it would be a very nast MOT man who would report you for it.
I once started duty at 6.00pm one night and was not given a truck till 01.00am but still had my start line at 6.00pm so I couldn’t do the run required, they had to pay for for sitting around all night and they learned a lesson and never did it again.
Pat Hasler:
It is the law that requires you to draw a line at start and finish [SNIP] If you don’t draw a start and end line you are breaking the law.
Not true. There is no legal requirement to draw these lines on the discs and by not doing so you are not committing an offence. The only requirement is to keep a full record of your working day and if that means you start work before you have access to a vehicle/tachograph then you should record that fact by using the space provided on the back of the chart to show what you were doing, other work or rest for example.
I’ve never drawn a line on the front of a tacho disc in nearly 20 years of driving trucks and this has never been an issue at any of the countless checks during that time.
I know that not many do draw the line but if you check with the authorities you will find that it is in the regulations. I have attended enough tacho training meetings in my life to have been told this by MOT.
As I said they do not enforce the rule in most cases so when your tacho is inspected they usually say nothing, however on one such inspection in the mid 90’s a Ministry guy actually said “Congratulations, … You are the first driver I have seen who has filled in the chart correctly” (refering to the lines)
I always thought it was an offence to write outside of the centre of the chart ■■.So by putting a pen line at the start and finish shift you have defaced the chart…Just a little more on this subject…When charts are sent away start and finish lines can hide a multitude of sins !!!
one other thing while we are on it,if you do write on the back,use a fibre tipped pen its an offence to use pencil/biro !!!
Pat Hasler:
I know that not many do draw the line but if you check with the authorities you will find that it is in the regulations. I have attended enough tacho training meetings in my life to have been told this by MOT.
Sorry Pat but is not in the regulations. The regulations are here, and it doesn’t state anywhere that lines must be drawn on the charts. If you can find where it says so please point it out.
Pat Hasler:
As I said they do not enforce the rule in most cases so when your tacho is inspected they usually say nothing, however on one such inspection in the mid 90’s a Ministry guy actually said “Congratulations, … You are the first driver I have seen who has filled in the chart correctly” (refering to the lines)
As has been established on these forums before enforcement officers do not always know what they are talking about when it comes to the regulations.
From the regulations you can find the following information regarding writing on charts.
30 How should the record be used?
Dirty or damaged charts must not be used. If a chart with recordings on is damaged, a spare chart must be used instead and attached to the damaged chart.
Each driver must enter the following information on the record chart:
- his or her surname and first name (before departing);
- the date and place where use of the chart begins (before departing) and ends (after arrival);
- the registration number of vehicles driven during the use of the chart (which should be entered before departing on a new vehicle);
- the odometer reading at the start of the first journey and at the end of the last journey shown on the chart. (If there is a change of vehicle during the working day, not only the registration number of the new vehicle but also the readings at the time of the change should be given.); and
- the time of any change of vehicle.
No mention of lines and if it was a legal requirement that is where they would be mentioned.
33 How should other work be recorded?
If the driver is working away from the vehicle and cannot leave a chart in the tachograph or has left a chart in but changed his work mode whilst away from the vehicle - he must make a manual entry on the chart, eg OW 09.15-10.20.
36 Where should manual entries be made?
If a chart has a special place to make manual entries, usually on the reverse side, this is where they should be made. But they can be made anywhere on the chart provided they are clear and do not obliterate other recordings.
So from that last point it is clear that it is not an offence to write on the front of a chart, someone should let the French and Spanish know that. 
ref the lines on tachos, our company started it a couple of years back when they 1st told us about it some of us put our points across. they insisted we started doing it so me being me, i contacted my local traffic department. they said that it was not legal nor was it ilegal,they said that it was a good idea especially if you done nights out as it would remind the driver to remove his/her tacho rather than leave it in all night or all weekend which has been known to happen. so on that feedback from our freinds i said to our drivers that the police will not charge you for it. i hope this helps in anyway. just a final hint do the lines on the reverse of your tacho 
I used to drive for securicor and they insisted you wrote sed/edr on the front of the chart.
We had guys getting warnings for not doing it.
jammymutt:
I used to drive for securicor and they insisted you wrote sed/edr on the front of the chart.We had guys getting warnings for not doing it.
i suppose different brances had their rules this was ours, sdr/edr
That should read sdr/edr im not using my own keyboard…I wonder how many p[eople have or do work that famous bunch of cattleherders form Ipswich…
I have never marked the face of any tacho outside of the centre field even though some managers have requested it. This is because I have always known that the French in particular outlaw it. I have never had a problem with the ministry in the UK for not marking but I have been faulted, but not booked, for a tiny tiny overlap out of the centre field.
One thing is for sure though, different ministry men have different perceptions of the law, I remember many years ago, before tachos, being pulled one day for not filling in the old graph style log sheets (when they were relatively new) in the required fashion and, having taken the lesson to heart and repented on the next days chart, being pulled in another part of the country for the opposite of the same offence. Fortunately I was only warned on both occasions but it was pot luck from then on.
Back to tachos, whatever you do you must not mark the face in between the start and finish trace.
Just remembered something. Here in France HGV drivers must go on a 3 day course every 5 years and when I went was informed that the disc must be left in continuously after duty until the next day’s start providing nobody else drives and you don’t overrun the previous trace. Naturally nobody ever does that, the risk is too great, but it does emphasise the official view here that you do not put SOD & EOD lines.
Salut, David.
jammymutt:
I used to drive for securicor and they insisted you wrote sed/edr on the front of the chart.We had guys getting warnings for not doing it.
it`s also Wincanton company policy too
My company uses TruTac Ltd to do the tacho analysis and they also provise the weekly chart envelopes with the legislation limits. I suppose that is so that we can’t claim to be unaware of the regs but there is a requirement for us to mark the start and finish times on the front of the chart but the edr/sdr line must be contained within the speed trace section with a warning NOT to stray into the activity trace. This is acompanied with a diagram of the lines and the edr/sdr, times, and any other writing necessary outside the working hours and within the speed trace section.
Never had a problem with this and if contained within the weekly envelope with the instuctions contained on the outside… 