Solicitors for the Freight Transport Association have written to the European Commission to say that by failing to produce a timetable for the introduction of digital tachographs the Commission is breaking EU laws.

The FTA has also notified the Commission that it will hold it liable for any wasted costs, expenditure or damage incurred by the industry as a result of the failure of the Commission to meet its obligations. As we closed for press in early April, the FTA had not received any reply.

Current regulations say that a digital tachograph must be fitted to all new lorries sold after 5 August 2004. However, only French company Actia is on schedule to have an approved unit available by that date, and truck makers will still have to complete type approval tests of their own, making it unlikely that any will be available before mid-2005 at the earliest.

"The European Commission has bungled the process of introducing digital tachographs to the extent that the whole industry is in total confusion as to what the law requires of it and when," complains FTA chief executive Richard Turner. "On behalf of UK lorry operators, FTA has found it necessary to take legal action which demands that the Commission revise its plans and issue a new timetable."

 

UK transport Minister David Jamieson has stated that digital tachograph regulations will not be enforced in the UK.

Meanwhile, French company Actia has, as predicted, become the first tachograph manufacturer to have its digital tachograph pass all the tests required under EU legislation. In particular, Actia's SmarTach is the first unit to pass the all-important interoperability tests, which confirm that the tachograph will work with any smartcard issued by an EU member country.

The company says its expects to have full type approval, allowing Actia digital tachographs to be fitted in any truck, by July 2004, but there will still be a delay as truck manufacturers ramp up production levels. In the UK, Actia products will be sold and serviced by Milton Keynes-based Time Instruments, which has 155 distributors in the UK.