Sept/Oct 2003

The European Commission has so far refused to relax its timetable for the introduction of digital tachographs, despite the fact that a critical deadline has passed with no signs of type-approved digital tachographs being ready in time.

UK truck operators are now hoping for a lenient enforcement regime during the period between the official starting date next year and the date in the following year when the instruments might realistically be available.

The implementation program in EU legislation was intended to give the truck manufacturers time to integrate digital tachs into vehicles and production schedules; and to make this possible, the tachograph makers were supposed to have digital tachographs units ready by 5 August this year. That was a full year before 5 August 2004, the date when in theory they become compulsory on all new trucks over 3.5 tonnes.

As widely predicted, however, the deadline has passed and tachograph manufacturers are still going through the type-approval process.

 

The European Commission held an informal meeting on the subject on the 12 September 2003, when it consulted several member states (including the UK), along with vehicle manufacturers and tachograph and smartcard manufacturers, to discuss the complex Type Approval procedure.

According to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, the Government agency in charge of implementing the legislation in the UK, the tachograph manufacturers concluded that the earliest date for obtaining type approval would be March 2004, following which initial production units should be available by about May 2004.

Which may sound fine; but the vehicle manufacturers stated that because of testing they would then need to carry out, fitment of digital tachographs to all new vehicles would not be possible until some time between March and November 2005. Even these dates are liable to slip back by a further two months.

VOSA says that member states agreed to discuss allowing analogue tachographs in the interim, pending the implementation of digital tachographs some time between March and December 2005 ­ assuming that manufacturers' current time estimates are met.

However, the experts m.logistics consulted are worried that because the EC meeting was "informal" rather than official, any agreement to go soft on enforcement until digital tachographs are available has no legal basis, leaving drivers and operators in a kind of no-man's land between August 2004 and March 2005 (or later).

The smartcards for storing driver information also have to be type-approved, and while the UK still has plans for cards to be ready for use in May 2004, delays in gaining approval could still delay their introduction, warns VOSA.

The Freight Transport Association says the EC has "bungled" the arrangements for the fitment of digital tachographs, not only confusing vehicle manufacturers and lorry operators, but also leaving no time for training fleet administrators and drivers. Commercial vehicle sales next summer could be also be hit by the uncertainty, it says.

FTA director of policy James Hookham points out: "The fitting of a digital tachograph is the easy bit. The real challenge lies with operators moving from a paper-based analysis system to a digital regime for the recording and monitoring of drivers' hours.

"We consider the digital tachograph situation a complete fiasco, and lay the blame unreservedly with the European Commission for allowing the recording of drivers hours to descend into confusion, uncertainty and speculation. We will be calling for a pragmatic enforcement regime by the Department for Transport and VOSA to allow for this deplorable state of affairs."

Meanwhile, as m.logistics closed for press, reports were coming in that Germany's telematics-based motorway toll collection scheme, which is to be run by the Toll Collect consortium, had hit problems. Up to 20,000 of the in-cab units have reportedly had to be recalled for repair, although trials have apparently gone ahead. The scheme is due to start in November.

The FTA wanted the digital tach standard amended to take account of future legislative requirements such as toll payments, but the German scheme has been dogged by scepticism and a legal challenge by the EU.