Drivers
Know what needs doing
For drivers, the introduction of digital tachographs involves a number of changes:
- You need a personal driver card to record your activities
- To obtain this you must apply to the relevant authorities.
Driver Card
The personal driver card:
- is a smart card which stores all relevant driver data required for EU Drivers’ Hours regulations including driving and rest times.
- is suitable for use in all EU approved digital tachographs.
- is valid for five years.
- is normally only issued once per driver during its period of validity (except in the case of a damaged, lost, stolen or faulty card).
- does not replace a driving licence.
You must insert your driver card when starting work (e.g. when loading/unloading or driving). If the driver card is damaged, malfunctions or is lost or stolen you should print out the information relating to the periods of time recorded by the tachograph at the end of the journey and add your card number and signature to the printout. In this particular case you must apply for a new card as soon as possible and must not drive without a card for more than 15 days.
You must also make daily printouts when changing between vehicles fitted with analogue and digital tachographs. This ensures a complete record (printouts and charts) of driving activities for the current week and the last working day of the previous week.
