Tachograph discrepancy and a delivery deadline
You are a category C driver employed by a Bulgarian haulier. On Monday morning your digital tachograph is checked at a roadside inspection. The printout shows that on Friday you drove 4 hours 50 minutes with only a 20-minute break, and that you recorded 11 hours of 'rest' on Friday night while the vehicle's movement data show it was driven for 40 minutes at 03:00. You explain that the depot asked you to move a trailer to free the loading bay and that you 'forgot' to change the mode back. The vehicle's maximum authorised mass is 12 t and it is not equipped with a driver card reminder. The inspector also notes that your driver card expired 10 days ago and that you have been driving on the expired card. You have a delivery due at 14:00 today, 200 km away.
1. Identify each infringement and explain why it matters, distinguishing driving time, rest and record-keeping.
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Infringements:
- Driving time: 4 h 50 min without a qualifying break exceeds the 4.5-hour maximum. A 20-minute break is not sufficient; the required break is 45 minutes, or a split of at least 15 minutes followed by at least 30 minutes, taken so that no more than 4.5 hours of driving occurs without it. This is a serious infringement because fatigue impairs judgement.
- Rest record: recording 11 hours of rest while the vehicle was driven at 03:00 is a false record. Even if the movement was a short depot shunt, the mode should have been 'other work' or 'driving'. Falsifying or failing to correct records undermines the whole purpose of the tachograph and is treated seriously by enforcement.
- Expired driver card: driving on a card that expired 10 days ago is a separate infringement. The card must be renewed; driving without a valid card means the driver cannot be identified and the records are unreliable. The operator also has responsibilities to check card validity.
- The vehicle has no reminder, but that does not excuse the driver; the driver must know the card's expiry date.
2. What should you do before accepting the 14:00 delivery, and can you legally drive it?
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Before the delivery:
- Do not simply drive off. First establish the current state of your driving and rest: how much driving has been done since the last qualifying daily/weekly rest, and whether a break is owed. The Friday infringements must be corrected in the records where possible (a manual entry or explanatory note), but they cannot be erased.
- The expired card must be renewed before further driving; until then you should not drive on it. Report the situation to the operator immediately so a replacement can be arranged and the delivery reassigned or delayed.
- The 200 km delivery at 14:00 is feasible only if you have a valid card, sufficient remaining driving time and a qualifying break. If any of these is missing, you must not drive; the deadline does not override the rules.
- Record the inspection outcome and any instructions from the inspector; keep copies of printouts.
3. What are the operator's responsibilities in this case, and what are the likely consequences for you?
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Operator responsibilities:
- The haulier must plan work so that drivers can comply with driving and rest rules, must not encourage or require infringements, and must check drivers' cards and records. Asking a driver to shunt at 03:00 during recorded rest is exactly the kind of instruction that creates false records.
- The operator must keep records, ensure tachograph equipment is functioning and calibrated, and provide training. Failure can lead to administrative penalties against the undertaking, not just the driver.
Consequences for the driver:
- The roadside inspection may lead to a penalty for exceeding driving time without a break, for the false rest record and for the expired card. Penalties vary, but repeat or serious infringements can lead to prosecution and to loss of good repute for the driver.
- The driver should cooperate, provide explanations, correct records where permitted, and raise the depot instruction as the context. Blaming the deadline is not a defence: the driver remains responsible for complying with the rules.