A tachograph is a tool that’s built into a vehicle, which tracks and records data relating to active driving hours, any driving incidents, speed, and distance driven. They are specifically engineered to ensure that both the individual driver and their employer are adhering to regulations around working hours for drivers.
While the tool itself is fitted in a vehicle, it’s the digital tachograph analysis that proves really useful for most fleet managers and transport managers. This analysis allows the manager to oversee driving hours and to ensure that all drivers are adhering to time and distance limits, with the data presenting all this insight in a digestible way.
Keep reading for an introduction to tachograph data, the role it plays in professional driving, and the importance of unique driver information.
How Does a Tachograph Work?
All drivers within a fleet are given their own card, which allows them to log in and log out of a shift in a specific vehicle. It ensures that the data relating to their shift is correctly linked to the vehicle they drive, monitoring everything from speed and distance to active hours and other work that’s carried out on the vehicle.
Beyond the driving itself, drivers have several responsibilities, including the need for a daily walkaround check as a matter of both safety and compliance. It is crucial that tasks like these are tracked on the tachograph as ‘Other Work’, indicating that the vehicle was dormant but that the driver’s shift had started.
The only way to ensure tachograph data is precise and accurate is to follow all the regulations with regard to clocking in and out and changing the settings as jobs change.
How to Access Tachograph Data?
Tachograph data can be accessed in a number of ways. Drivers can now access all the data relating to their own shift work and activity, in a drivers app. This lets them see and change their availability to work, understand any infringements attached to their profile, and view the data from each shift.
A comprehensive dashboard is available to fleet and transport managers, giving them oversight across their entire fleet. This overall analysis is the best way to keep track of all drivers and vehicles. Drivers can then be debriefed using paper or online performance reports, empowering managers to communicate with their team directly or remotely, depending on the business model.
The Importance of Tachograph Knowledge
The tachograph in any given vehicle enables drivers and their fleet managers to keep track of driving hours and on-road incidents, as a matter of safety and for full-fleet compliance. Adhering to regulations is a crucial part of fleet management, with the tachograph ensuring that all data is trackable and precise, easily connecting drivers to vehicles and to their correct working hours.
For more information on this and other solutions, get in touch with your local supplier or training provider.
