June is already proving to be a big month for the next generation digital tachograph. The first vehicles have already been fitted with smart tachographs and this represents the biggest change to tachograph legislation in 12 years.
To help drivers and vehicle operators prepare for the transition, Aquarius IT produced a White Paper earlier in the year and will host an hour-long free webinar with Commercial Motor at 2pm on 18 June to explain all the changes further.
While the webinar event focussed on how the new technology will impact on roadside enforcement, another key consideration, on a practical level, for operators will be to make sure current downloading tools are compatible with the new smart tachograph.
Mark Johnston, customer service director at Aquarius IT, explains: “Whilst we know there are no significant changes to the way the new digital tachograph unit will function from a drivers or vehicle operators point of view (the changes are more of a technical nature within the unit’s internal workings for roadside enforcement), there will be some changes to the structure and the format to how the data is generated.”
“This will mean that existing downloading devices, especially first and even secondary generation tools, may not work with the new smart tachograph or may not download all the additional data from the new tachograph,” he advises.
Download device users who are concerned about the compatibility of their units can contact the team at Aquarius IT for help and advice.
Johnson also confirmed that a plan is in place for Aquarius IT’s Clockwatcher Elite customers, to ensure this potential hardware issue is managed as smoothly as possible.
For further information call Aquarius IT on 0330 333 8789 or visit https://aquariusit.com/shop/ for details on the latest digital downloading tools.
