When thinking about what accessories you also need, the only product other than your driver card is digital tachograph printer rolls. Digital tachographs use special thermal paper rolls. These printouts show the driver’s activity, including breaks and rest time. The information is broken down into a combination of text and symbols that you can find out about in our infographic showing what the symbols mean. Tacho and analysis software support

Based on smart cards, motion sensors and digital units, the new system replaces the conventional paper discs and mechanical tachograph units that have been used to monitor drivers of commercial vehicles to date. Subject to EU & AETR rules, the law now requires any vehicle weighing over 3.5 tonnes to be fitted with an analogue or digital tachograph. All commercial vehicles registered on or after 1st May 2006 must be fitted with a digital tachograph before they can be driven. Once you have a valid personal driver card, you can use a digital tachograph – either in your own vehicle or in a company owned vehicle. What to look for in a digital tachograph The Tacho2Safe comes with preloaded TachoSafeLite software for your PC. This software is an easy to use and convenient program offering a range of reports in an attractive graphical interface. (please note, this is not compatible with Mac computers)Digital tachographs hold data on drivers and their periods of driving, rest and duty for up to a 12-month period. The SE5000 Exakt Duo2 tachograph in combination with the OPTAC3 tachograph analysis helps to ensure that you drive within your legal limits, and have the best software to help you analyse the data that the tachograph provides. This combination helps fleet managers to not only plan more effectively but to run their fleets more efficiently. The Stoneridge SE5000 Exakt Duo2 includes working time directive calculations, which ensure that you know exactly how long you’ve been driving for. This means there are fewer errors in timekeeping and fewer infringements.

It’s sometimes hard to work out when to drop driving or take too little time for your legally required breaks, which is where the Duo technology is very useful. This tacho has a support tool that displays real-time updates, which helps reduce infringements by up to 60%*. This keeps you legal while optimising time on the road, driving and working. For most new vehicles, a digital tachograph will come as standard in the cab. But there is always the option to upgrade your current tacho to a more advanced version, or more importantly, switch to the tachograph that you prefer.

get your first GB (Great Britain) driver digital tachograph card if you currently live in England, Scotland or Wales (you cannot apply online if you’re exchanging a foreign tachograph card - apply by post instead) Gives four separate report options: 1) infringements, 2) working time, 3) graphic activities, 4) activity details.

If you need to change an EU, EEA or Northern Ireland tachograph card to a GB tachograph card, you must apply by post. You must have lived in the UK for more than 6 months in the past year. Report a lost, stolen, damaged or faulty card There are four types of cards required to run on a digital tachograph, however, the two most used are the driver card and company card. These will be the only two cards a driver or fleet manager needs to get driving legally. Unlike analogue units, digital tachographs also hold information relating to faults, attempts to tamper with the system, speeding, calibration details, and when the data has been accessed, for example, by VOSA staff or the Police.To see exactly what your specific fleet can save, you can upload your own VU data here to calculate precisely how much driving time you could gain by upgrading to the SE5000 Exakt Duo2. The answer may surprise you.