New driving law changes being introduced today will have a huge impact on drivers of heavy goods vehicles traveling around the UK and Europe.
From today, February 21, all newly registered “in-scope vehicles” will have to be fitted with either a full or transitional second-generation smart tachograph.
The term “in-scope vehicles” includes heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes and passenger vehicles with 10 or more seats.
Tachographs record information about how long someone has been driving, their speed and the distance they have travelled.
HGV drivers could be forced to make huge changes to their habits
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They are crucial to the haulage industry to ensure that people adhere to rules around their maximum hours.
Under European Union rules, people cannot drive for more than nine hours in a day, 56 hours in a week or 90 hours in any consecutive weeks.
The new “smart 2” tachographs allow data to be taken more easily and shared with their employer if they are part of a fleet.
Drivers will also be able to benefit from a more interconnected service with other apps like smart parking or pay-as-you-drive, according to the European Commission.
Further laws will be introduced on December 31, 2024, when all “in-scope” vehicles with an analogue or digital tachograph must have a “smart 2” tachograph retrofitted when undertaking international journeys.
If the vehicle is only operating in the UK, the vehicle can still use the original digital or analogue tachograph that has been fitted.
Additional laws will be launched in August 2025 and July 2026 to streamline processes within the haulage industry.
This comes as experts are warning that calibration stations could struggle to cope with around 10,000 HGVs needing to retrofit their vehicles before the end of the year.
Around 10,000 vehicles are affected by laws being introduced in December this year, a further 5,000 vehicles will need to act before August 2025 and 48,000 vehicles may be impacted by the July 2026 laws.
Karen Crispe, director of Convey, said: “We have real concerns about the capacity of the calibration stations to handle this level of additional demand for retrofits.
“Even if all affected operators started booking their vehicles in now, it’s unlikely they will all be upgraded in time,” MotorTransport reported.
She added that there may be issues with demand for new tachographs outstripping the supply, in addition to the tight deadlines to make the switch.
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Most tachographs are now digital
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Crispe added: “This is not just a UK issue – these tachos are needed across Europe – we have seen manufacturers projections to show that the potential demand for tachos across Europe could be 40m over the next 2 years.
“This is why we are now actively trying to raise awareness of the situation and would urge anyone who operates internationally to get their vehicles retrofitted now to avoid any issues.”