Digital tachographs are devices fitted on buses and trucks and they record the amount of driving times, working times, breaks and rest periods, as well as capturing data about the vehicle.
digital tachograph
Under EU and national law, every truck or bus must be fitted with recording devices known as tachographs and since 2006 it must be a digital tachograph. Their function is to record the driving times, working times, breaks and rest periods of individual drivers. Vehicle speed, distance traveled and other related metrics are also logged and the data is stored in the digital tachograph and on driver-specific smart cards.
The records must be available for inspection by enforcement officers to ensure that the laws governing driver hours and rest times are fully complied with.
Failure to comply with these requirements could result in prosecution by the RSA. Although most commercial vehicles must carry a tachograph, there are some classes of vehicle that are exempt.
To operator a digital tachograph there are smart cards needed there are four type of smart cards what can be ordered from the RSA;
Driver cards – to record the drivers activities
Company cards – to download vehicle information
Workshop cards – only for digital tachograph fitters
Control card – the RSA and Garda
For more information please read our Knowledge Base on the digital tachograph