Add tacho automation for easy compliance

The tachograph has been an integral part of the Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) world since their use was made compulsory back in the 1980s. But while the modern tacho is much more high-tech than the paper books that were once used, it’s not always a seamless operation. 

Many fleet managers admit to spending hours each week managing tacho data and fixing common mistakes. As well as time-consuming, these kinds of issues with data can prove incredibly costly. 

Maximum fines for everything from failing to provide records to failing to correctly use a tachograph can reach £5,000 per incident. Punishments for erroneous or altered tachograph records can also include criminal charges and up to two years in prison. 

Exceeding legal limits carries consequences too. Should your drivers fail to rest for the legally required period, or drive more than the allowed hours in a week, you could be on the end of further fines and sanctions. 

When the stakes are this high, why take any risks when it comes to the tacho? The technology exists to automate key processes and gain full visibility of tachograph data in near real-time.

Taking the toil out of the tacho

Ultimately, digital tachograph software can help make sure that staying compliant doesn’t get in the way of staying productive. 

Integrating your tachograph data with your GPS fleet tracking solution not only makes it easy to monitor drivers out on the road, it also helps you derive deep insight from your fleet, spot discrepancies between tachograph reports and vehicle data, and flag potentially unsafe behaviours such as speeding and late braking. 

The modern, digital tachograph removes the need for physical access to your vehicles. So, you can grab the data you need without disrupting drivers or waiting for downtime. 

With easy access to vital information – from start time and drive time remaining to next break,  and much more – you can encourage drivers to rest, and make more informed staffing and scheduling plans. For a more proactive approach, you can set up driving hours alerts and receive a direct warning whenever a driver is at risk of an hour's violation.

Digital tachograph: How it works

With a digital tachograph solution as part of your fleet management suite, advanced tracking hardware connects directly to your vehicle’s tachograph and sends data to your fleet management solution. With your fleet data in one place, you can:

• See the status of the drivers in your fleet.
• Monitor tachograph, driver card, vehicle and engine data in near real-time.
• See vehicle location and driving hours to assess who is within safe limits for the next job.
• Take a proactive approach to tacho management by encouraging drivers to take breaks.
• Get quick and easy access to your data with remote download.

To make matters even easier, the Driver ID feature allows you to quickly determine who was driving when, allowing you to coach, incentivise and, if necessary, reprimand drivers based on individual performance and compliance requirements.

What’s more, the live map gives you an at-a-glance view of the location and status of every vehicle and driver in your fleet, including how much drive time they’ve accumulated, and how much they have remaining, so you can make the best possible dispatch decision in seconds.

Ready to automate compliance?

The digital tachograph solution is just one part of the fully featured Verizon Connect range of products that includes driver coaching, fuel card management, and vehicle tracking.

With our comprehensive fleet management technology in place, you can automate numerous key processes, from payroll to billing, to increase efficiency, improve accuracy, and potentially lower costs. 

Once connected, our platform of applications helps improve and automate your business, enabling you to close gaps on your competitors, promote safety, grow revenues and react fast to customer needs. 

To see the Verizon Connect solution in action, book a free demo today.