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This blog post was published under the 2010-2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

https://movingon.blog.gov.uk/2014/10/06/changes-to-tachograph-rules-for-local-journeys/

Changes to tachograph rules for local journeys

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Operator licence, Safe driving

UK map showing 100 km radius

Soon some vehicles will no longer have to be fitted with tachograph recording equipment and their drivers will not have to comply with EC drivers’ hour rules, but with GB drivers’ hours rules instead.

From 2 March 2015, a new European regulation – EU 165/2014 (PDF 2 MB) – will replace EEC 3821/85, setting out requirements for the construction, installation, use, testing and control of tachograph recording equipment.

The new regulation increases the journey distance for exemptions from 50km to 100km from the operator’s base. This will apply to:

  • vehicles or vehicle and trailer combinations with a maximum weight of 7,500 kg which are:

 -      used to carry materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of his work and when driving the vehicle is not the driver’s main activity

 -      used to carry goods and which are propelled by natural or liquefied gas or electricity

  • vehicles used to carry live animals from farms to local markets, or from markets to local farms or slaughterhouses

From 2 March 2015, these vehicles will no longer have to be fitted with tachograph recording equipment and the drivers will not have to comply with EC drivers’ hour rules. Instead, drivers of these vehicles must meet GB domestic drivers’ hours rules.

Download and read these rules online.

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11 comments

  1. Comment by Paul posted on

    I`am employed as a bus driver (16 passenger seats) and I have been told that the radius from the company base has increased from 50k to 100k? the only info i can find agrees with this statement only if driving is not the main part of your job ie:- transporting tools or equipment to a location where they would be used as your main job?can anyone shed any light on this for me.thanks

    Reply
  2. Comment by ste posted on

    hi, what is the rules on road sweepers , the larger left hand drive ones which operate on sites.
    for example traveling to sites / from site to site, spending the most of the days on sites and off road ( building sites, car parks, factory, site clearances/clean up,) . Without driving out of the radius 100km , are we exempt from using tachographs.

    with most of the days been driving at 3 mph ( sweeping speed) and only on avarage on the public road for 2-4 hours a day are we exempt from tachographs ?

    also what about on one site for the day only going on public road traveling to and from site

    Reply
  3. Comment by ste posted on

    hi, what is the rules on road sweepers , the larger left hand drive ones which operate on sites.
    for example traveling to sites / from site to site, spending the most of the days on sites and off road ( building sites, car parks, factory, site clearances/clean up,) . Without driving out of the radius 100km , are we exempt from using tachographs.

    with most of the days been driving at 3 mph ( sweeping speed) and only on avarage on the pub road for 2-4 hours a day are we exempt from tachographs ?

    Reply
  4. Comment by Nick posted on

    Does anyone know if bin lorries doing door to door collections and commercial collections on the same round are tacho exempt??

    Reply
    • Replies to Nick>

      Comment by Moving On posted on

      Hi Nick,

      For a journey to fall with the derogation for "vehicles used in connection with door-to-door household refuse collection and disposal" (and be exempt from EC drivers hours and tachograph rules) a door-to-door household refuse collection and disposal operation should have the following characteristics:

      It should be carried out either by a public authority or by a private undertaking under contract to a public authority;
      It should involve the primary collection of waste from household¹ or commercial premises, including the collection of street cleansing waste (e.g. litter from public street bins), whereby the transport activity remains subsidiary to the collection. The waste collected from commercial premises must be similar to or of the same kind as that collected from households, it must be collected in the same way (i.e. door-to-door), it must not be subject to any special collection regime or special rules, and must be collected using the same vehicles².
      Such operations might involve longer aggregate journeys where there are a number of stops, particularly in rural areas, but such journeys should not normally exceed a radius of 50 kilometres from the place where a vehicle is normally based.

      Regards
      Rachael

      Reply
  5. Comment by Tony posted on

    What's the difference carrying goods for sale or carrying tools I tow for 5hrs a week and got to have a taco

    Reply
  6. Comment by Rob posted on

    Cannot believe the hours/shifts sister in law drives as bus driver. Totally out of order way rules get bent and twisted. Safety! What safety!

    Reply
  7. Comment by ROG posted on

    DQC needed if the vehicle is over 3.5 tonnes GVW

    Van 3.5 towing trailer 3.5 does need DQC for example

    Reply
  8. Comment by C J Maclennan posted on

    Lets hope it doesn't turn out like the bus industry then with employers making it legal hours on paper but in reality a hard task to actually do as most of the time the runs go into the drivers break time and more and more of their breaks are been eroded, so much for safety.

    Reply
  9. Comment by Roger Dent posted on

    The above link forwards to the GV262 which has not been updated to account for the new change

    Reply
  10. Comment by John English posted on

    Do the drivers of these vehicles need a DCQ card?

    Reply

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