Hrvatski
What is a tachograph? Who uses it and why?
What kind of tachographs are there and what is special about the 2nd generation smart tachograph?
We will try to give you answers to all these questions as concisely and clearly as possible.
So let’s go…
WHAT IS A TACHOGRAPH?
A tachograph is a measuring device whose basic function is to record the speed of the vehicle and the distance traveled.
Likewise, the tachograph saves data on the driving time of the vehicle in motion and the driver’s break or rest time.
The use of this device aims to prevent potential traffic accidents due to the fatigue and/or exhaustion of the vehicle driver, and it is installed in every motor vehicle with a permissible mass of more than 3.5 tons.
WHAT KIND OF TACHOGRAPHS ARE THERE?
By evolution, there are three types of tachographs on the market: (outdated) analog, (currently the most used) digital and smart.
The latter is mandatory from June 15, 2019 in all new heavy-duty motor vehicles with a permissible mass of more than 3.5 tons, and is essentially an upgraded version of the digital tachograph.
The upgraded version in that part that within the existing system has an addition in the form of a DSRC system that is used for contactless downloading of data at a short distance by road control.
In short: it serves the enforcement authorities to decide whether to stop the vehicle and carry out a formal check or not
Four years after the entry into force of the obligation to install smart tachographs, the mandatory installation of the 2nd generation of them comes into force.
Visually, the change is only in the addition of the Bluetooth sign in the right corner above the screen, but the more important changes are in the system itself, i.e. in additional options for drivers such as:
- extended calculator for calculating the driver’s work activities
- semi-automatic recording of crossing the border
- possibility of recording loading, unloading or both actions at the same time
- connection to smart devices (up to 5 at the same time)
Not only the drivers will be covered by the novelties, but also the carriers themselves.
So far, the most important innovation is that all vehicles in international traffic that have a built-in analog or digital tachograph must be equipped with a 2nd generation smart tachograph by the end of the calendar year 2024. Furthermore, by August 20, 2025, even those vehicles that had a smart tachograph of the 1st generation must switch to the 2nd generation.
By June 2026, all commercial vehicles in international traffic with a permissible weight between 2.5 and 3.5 tons must be equipped with a smart tachograph of the 2nd generation, even though they did not have them at all until now.
