Najczęściej Zadawane Pytania

    When is it necessary to install digital tachographs in vehicles?
  • Tachograf cyfrowy, podobnie jak tachograf analogowy, powinien być zamontowany w pojazdach o łącznej ładowności powyżej 3,5 t, służących przewozu rzeczy lub osób. Tachograf cyfrowy jest montowany w nowo rejestrowanych pojazdach od 1 maja 2006 roku.
    • What kind of tachograph cards are there?
  • There are 4 types of tachograph cards:
    • driver card;
    • company card;
    • workshop card;
    • control card.
    • What kind of data is recorded in the system of digital tachographs?
  • System Tachografów Cyfrowych (STC) zakłada równoczesny zapis danych w wewnętrznej pamięci tachografu cyfrowego oraz na karcie kierowcy.
    • The driver card records and stores:
    • identification data, such as card number, issuing authority
    • personal driver data
    • driver activity data, ie, 5 modes:
      • drive
      • other work
      • availability
      • rest
      • unknown (when the card is not inserted into the tachograph)
      • distance traveled
      • information on events, errors, and specific circumstances;
      • countries travelled
      • date and time of last inspection
      • vehicles used
      • date of last download
      • authentication certificates. Internal memory of the digital tachograph stores:
        • place and date of calibration;
        • activity data of all the drivers of the vehicle
        • information on events, errors, and specific circumstances;
        • countries travelled
        • date and time of inspection
        • date of collection of data
        • authentication certificates.
          • What is the capacity of the internal memory in digital tachograph?
        • Internal memory of the digital tachograph stores data from the last 365 days of use. The exception is data about speed. It keeps detailed speed records in the last 24 hours of driving (only movement) of the vehicle.
          • What is the capacity of the driver card?
        • Driver card holds approximately 28 days of driver's activity. The driver card can store more data, since it is dependent on the number of activities and their changes within 1 day. Please note that the obligatory requirement to download data from the driver card is set for every 28 days.
          • How often is it necessary to download data from Vehicle Unit (VU - digital tachograph)?
        • The data must be read every 3 months.
          • How often is it necessary to download data from driver cards?
        • Driver card data must be read every 28 calendar days.
          • How to download data from digital tachographs and from driver cards?
        • Data from driver cards can be downloaded via:
          • smart card reader (you must have TachoCard Reader software)
          • USB transfer key through the digital tachograph (reading must be authorized by the inserted company, workshop or control card)
          • universal reader with a separate slot for a driver card. Data from the digital tachograph can be downloaded via:
            • USB transfer key
            • universal reader
            • USB / RS232 cable (directly from the tachograph to a PC or PDA).
              • What does ESM stand for?
            • ESM - External Storage Medium.
              ESM is also one digital tachograph file formats.
              • What does IDE stand for?
            • IDE - Intelligent Dedicated Equipment, dedicated equipment used for downloading data
              • Co oznacza skrót STC?
            • STC - System Tachografów Cyfrowych
              • What does DDD stand for?
            • DDD - Digital Digital Digital - is one of the names of a proper digital tachograph file format which is specified in Annex 1b of the EC Regulation 3821/85.
              • How to download data from digital tachograph?
            • Data download procedure is as follows:
              1. Turn the ignition on.
              2. Insert company card - slot 2.
              3. Insert downloading device (IDE) into the tachograph.
              4. Connect your device with digital tachograph.
              5. Select a range of data to download - possible choices
                • date range of data collection
                • details of events and errors
                • details of vehicle speed (with 24 drives)
                • specifications Close
                • data collection sessions. The result file should in the format specified in Annex 1B of Regulation 561/2006. Most common formats are:
                  • . ESM
                  • . DDD
                  • . A1B
                  • . TGD What is the download procedure using OPTAC device?
                  • Driver card:
                    1. Make sure that USB cable is disconnected from PC.
                    2. Turn the device on by pushing the button the right for 3 seconds.
                    3. Wait 5-10 seconds..
                    4. Insert driver card with a chip visible and at the bottom.
                    5. Push the button with a card symbol.
                    6. Wait about 2 minutes (LED lights should blink).
                    7. Green LED lights mean that the files is saved correctly. Unsuccessful download procedure is indicated with red LED lights.
                    The file stored on VU memory should be compliant with Annex 1b of the Regulation 561/2006. The most common extensions are DDD, ESM, DTC, A1B and many more.
                    Vehicle Unit (digital tachograph):
                    1. Make sure that USB cable is disconnected from PC.
                    2. Turn the device on using the button on the right for 3 seconds and wait 10 seconds.
                    3. Insert company card (or control/ workshop card) into VU slot.
                    4. Link OPTAC reader to digital tachograph using a cable with black VU plug.
                    5. Push the the button with symbol of a 'full vehicle' to download all data stored in VU memory and a button with 'half vehicle' in order to download only the data since last download.
                    6. In some cases you need to wait at least 1 hour to complete the download procedure.
                    7. Green lights turn on after successful download and the red lights mean download failure.
                    The file downloaded from VU should be compliant with Annex 1b of the Regulation 561/2006.                    .
                    • Does digital tachograph inform about driving and rest time ingringements in accordance with current regulations?
                  • It is impossible to update firmware of digital tachographs. EU rules and guidelines change frequently and it makes impossible to implement precise control of the driving time in digital tachograph firmware. Moreover, the proper analysis of the driving time and especially weekly rest periods is so complicated that it is not possible to implement it inside the digital tachograph. There are of course some tips that a digital tachograph generates but those may be misleading. What does UTC stand for?
                  • UTC - Universal Time Coordinated - time format used in digital tachograph system.
                    • What does offset mean?
                  • Offset is the difference between local and UTC time. Total offset between UTC and local time includes the difference between time zones and summer/winter time changes.
                    For instance, if you drive in Poland the offset of time zones is 1 hour. In summertime the total offset is 2 hours, though. In this case local time is higher with 2 hours than UTC time (+2h UTC). In wintertime the total time zone offset is just 1 hour (+1h UTC).

                    Time zones offset Country
                    00:00 h. UK / P / IRL / IS
                    01:00 h. A / B / CZ / CY / D / DK / E / F / H / I / L / NL / PL / S / SK / SLO
                    02:00 h. BG / EST / FIN / GR / LT / LV / RO / TR
                    03:00 h. RUS
                    • What is a smart card?
                  • The electronic card (chip card, smart card) - a universal storage medium in the form of a plastic card with a memory chip placed on it (or inside it) that allows protection of the user login process, access and data control. Electronic cards are the size and appearance similar to traditional credit card with a magnetic stripe. What is a driver card and how does it look like?
                  • The driver card is a smart card that stores data recorded by the digital tachograph. It is a counterpart for tacho sheets. It allows you to store data of at least 28 days
                    The driver card shall be issued to eligible drivers by the card issuer for the period not longer than the validity of the driving license held by the driver.
                    The driver card enables the driver to identify and assign his activities recorded by the vehicle unit (VU - digital tachograph). Where is it possible to order a driver card?
                  • In each country there are institutions responsible for issuing tachograph cards. For example, in Poland it is PWPW SA and in UK it is DVLA office. A driver can apply for only 1 card.
                    • What data is stored on the driver card?
                  • The driver card records and stores:
                    • identification data, such as card number, issuing authority
                    • personal driver records
                    • driver activity data, ie, 5 modes:
                      • drive
                      • other work
                      • availability
                      • rest
                      • unknown (when the card is not inserted into the tachograph)
                      • distance traveled
                      • information about events, errors, and specific circumstances;
                      • countries where driver drove the vehicle
                      • date and time of last inspection
                      • vehicle numbers of vehicles used
                      • date of last download
                      • personal driver records
                      • authentication certificates. What shall I do in case of losing or destroying my driver card?
                      • In such cases a driver shall apply for another card at card issuing office. While waiting for the duplicate a driver is able to drive vehicles with digital tachographs only for 14 days. While driving without driver card it is necessary to make print-outs from the digital tachograph before starting and after finnishing shifts. After receiving the duplicate it is necessary to complete activities on the card using manual entries on the digital tachograph.
                        • What to do if the card does not record the data or makes it impossible to read this data?
                      • Complaints are received and dealt with by the issuer of the card. When it is impossible to drive with the card, you must make prints from digital tachograph at the beginning and end of work shift.By manual entries you are able to supplement the data on the driver card.
                        • What is the capacity of a driver card?
                      • Driver card stores at least 28 days of activities. If the driver changes his activities very rarely it can store even 1 year of data.
                        • What happens when memory card is full?
                      • If the card is full for 28 days, the data from 29th day overrides data from the 1st day, the data from 30th day overwrites data from the 2nd day, etc. So the earlier data are erased, it is necessary to copy data from the card every 3 weeks .
                        • What is the digital tachograph login procedure?
                      • After inserting driver card into tachograph it presents local and UTC time. Then digital tachograph identifies the driver and displays its name. Then you can see when the last time the card was removed. The next step is to query the digital tachograph to supplement the data through manual entries. Entries are needed, eg for starting work without the card inserted into the tachograph. Then you can specify in which country the change begins. After all these operations tachograph switch to the standard screen. What is a company card and how does it look like?
                      • A company card is an access key that allows reading data from digital tachograph. It must be inserted into the tachograph slot. This card provides third-party blocking access to personal data, for example in case of the vehicle sale. Where can I order a company card?
                      • The following institutions are responsible for issuing tachograph cards:
                      • www.tachograf.pwpw.pl
                      • www.dvla.gov.uk
                        • What kind of data is stored on company card?
                      • Actually on company card no relevant data is stored. The company card does not record any data about drivers activities. Driver card stores only:
                        • card no., issuing office name ;
                        • company name and address;
                        • dates of downloads from VU.
                        • What is a workshop card used for and how does it look like?
                      • Workshop card is used by authorized workshops for the calibration of digital tachographs. Workshop card provides full access to the data stored in the storage of the digital tachograph.
                        • What data is stored on a workshop card?
                      • Workshop card stores:
                        • personal data of the card holder - workshop worker eligible to calibrate digital tachographs;
                        • card ID no;
                        • workshop data;
                        • calibration data;
                        • control data;
                        • events and faults.
                        • How does a control card look like?
                      • Control card is issued to an officer or unit of inspectors entitled for controlling digital tachographs. The card identifies the person authorized to carry out inspections and provides access to data stored on driver card chip and tachograph memory. It allows downloading, reading and printing from digital tachographs. What data is stored on the control card?
                      • Control card stores following data:
                        • identity of the body or person authorized for tachograph inspections;
                        • date of inspection, type of control, subject of inspection, time of control, etc. In case of mixed driving (with analogue and digital tachographs), what is necessary to present at the road check?
                        • It is required to show:
                          • driver card and driver's daily printouts from digital tachograph
                          • tachograph sheets per days with an analogue tachograph
                          • attestation of driver activities
                          • driving license
                          • documents of the vehicle and its load. It is necessary to document a history of 29 calendar days.