Feb-March 2003

The timetable for the introduction of digital tachographs is unlikely to be met, according to the Freight Transport Association.

Manufacturers are due to start fitting digital tachographs in trucks over 7.5 tonnes gross from July 2004. However, that date assumes the equipment manufacturers will have technical approval for their products by summer 2003, and that now looks very unlikely, the FTA says.

Director general Richard Turner is calling for a review of the whole digital tachograph specification, claiming it is now old technology anyway. Implementation of digital tachographs has been continually put back since the mid-1990s.