Starting December 31, 2024, new obligations for drivers regarding the retention and presentation of tachograph data records will come into effect. Under these new rules, the period of control for driver activities on the tachograph, carried out by an authorized officer, will be extended.
From January 1, 2025, inspections will cover the current day and the previous 56 days. Drivers will be required to have records of their working hours for the current day and the preceding 56 days.
This is a significant change compared to the previous retention period, which included the current day and the past 28 days.
To comply with these regulations, drivers must be able to present complete tachograph documentation, which includes:
- Tachograph discs for analog tachographs if used by the driver
- Driver cards for digital and smart tachographs if available
- Manual printouts from tachographs (in exceptional situations)
- Documentation of inspections, including reports, evidence of initiated violation proceedings, or proof of paid fines
Driver cards, both older and newer generations, can store data for more than 56 days. Professional drivers with older cards (issued before August 20, 2023) will still be subject to a 56-day control period, not just the previous 28 days.
It is crucial to highlight that drivers operating vehicles with analog tachographs must ensure that, starting December 1, 2024, when submitting tachograph discs for further processing, they retain discs covering the preceding 56 days for their records.
Driver card and tachograph device activity control will continue to include:
- Review of driving time
- Review of drivers’ working hours
- Inspection of daily and weekly rest periods and breaks
- Compensation for weekly rest periods
- Proper use of the tachograph
Driver working hours records are mandatory for all drivers of vehicles equipped with tachographs. In other words, carriers are required to maintain records in accordance with the Law on Working Hours of Mobile Workers and the Regulation on Data Transfer and Record Keeping from Tachographs.
Timeframes for Record Keeping:
- Downloading data from the driver card: at least every 28 days
- Downloading data from the memory of digital tachographs: at least every 90 days
Contact us for more information and to explore options for installing automatic data downloads from digital tachographs!
