Tachograph paper analog - digital

Installation of digital tachographs in most commercial vehicles is required by law. The legal requirements for the “driving, rest, and break periods” change now and then. Migrating from analog to digital is very easy with our tachograph accessories.

Tachographs: Definition and fields of application
or simply put – why?
Since May 1, 2006 all registered vehicles throughout Europe with a total weight of more than 3.5 tons must be equipped with a digital tachograph. This rule applies not only to trucks but also to buses with more than nine passenger seats.

Trip recorders – also referred to as tachographs – record many types of data simultaneously: Driving times and rest periods, driving time interruptions, the speed traveled, and last but not least the kilometers/miles driven.

Tachographs combine different functions in one device by combining a chart recorder with a tachometer. In technical jargon, the tachograph is also referred to as an EC control device.

The recorded measurement data provide watertight documentation of exact driving and rest times, kilometers/miles driven, and the actual speeds.

Defined retention periods are stipulated for the measured data, due to the possible requirement for providing evidence of a trip or driving behavior weeks or even months after completion of a trip.

Tachographs: Analog or digital, advantages and disadvantages
There are two types of tachograph:

Analog tachographs:
These devices are implemented only occasionally. For recording, they use preprinted charts on which the collected data are written.

Digital tachographs:
These devices are nothing other than digital control devices that record all activity-related driver information. Simultaneously, the data are also stored, can be displayed, printed, and output digitally. The digital tachograph stores the collected data on a chip card, which is rather similar to the driver’s personal time card.

A digital tachograph prevents manipulation of data considerably more reliably than an analog tachograph and can thus provide a virtually tamper-proof record of speeds, driving and rest times.

Although the purchase price is higher, digital tachographs require far fewer supplies and can therefore be described as being more practical and less expensive with regard to consumables.
The current trend is toward yet a third version of the tachograph: An intelligent control system called Smart Tachograph. An EU regulation, which became effective in 2014 states that beginning 2019 all tachographs must be equipped with new functions.

The manufacturers are already working hard to develop the suitable technology: In the future, companies and authorities are to be able to access certain information by remote communication (radio):

Location at the beginning and end of the work day
Location after pre-determined hours of accumulated driving time
Trips that took place with and without driver’s time card
Date and time of the driver’s activity-related data
Last calibration date of the device
General operability of the device
These functions are to be queried only temporarily of course – companies are then able to keep track of their drivers, vehicles, and driving times much more efficiently.

Tachograph Supplies: A wide selection in our shop
In our online shop, we offer you the tachograph supplies you need for analog and digital tachographs, and much more. For example, you will find carrying cases for recording discs in addition to large and small storage boxes (for storing 300 discs – 1200 recording discs).

Take a minute to browse through our shop and find a large selection of tachograph supplies for mechanical and digital devices at low fair prices.