Operate the digital tachograph correctly

Four card types belong to the system: the driver card (your personal chip card, valid for 5 years, issued by Færdselsstyrelsen), the company card (the haulier's access to the bus's data), the control/authority card (police and Færdselsstyrelsen at roadside inspections) and the workshop card (calibration at an approved workshop). Only your driver card is something you handle yourself every day.

Insert the driver card in the tachograph before the bus is set in motion. Driving without an active driver card is a separate offence, even if the unit records to its own memory. Never leave your card in another driver's bus.

When the card is inserted, the tachograph asks whether you want to record activities for the time since the card was last removed (e.g. ferry, rest outside the bus). Fill in manually and correctly — gaps in the record must be explainable at an inspection.

The tachograph switches to «driving» by itself when the bus moves, but you must select the other modes yourself: «break/rest» (bed symbol), «other work» (hammer) and «availability». Always select the right one when you stop — a break recorded as «other work» does not count as a break.

Only recorded «break» and «rest» reset the driving time counter — «other work» does not.

When you take your 45-minute break, the tachograph must be set to break/rest for the whole period. Loading, ticketing, waiting time and administrative tasks are «other work», not a break — it is a classic trap that makes an otherwise legal driving day illegal.

Use the tachograph display to read the accumulated driving time and how long remains until the 4.5-hour limit, the daily and the weekly limit. Plan your next stop according to the figures instead of guessing — the display is your most important planning tool on the road.

New buses registered in the EU must have smart tachograph version 2 (Regulation (EU) 165/2014 as amended). It automatically records GNSS position and lets roadside inspectors read data wirelessly via DSRC, without the bus being stopped. Assume that data can be checked while you drive past.

At a roadside check you must be able to show the records for the current day and the previous 56 days (driver card and any printouts); the operator must keep downloaded data for at least 12 months. Hand in data for the operator's download in time so the card does not overwrite old records.

If the tachograph or the card does not work, you must make a manual printout at the start and end of the journey and write the missing information on it (name, card number, activities). A defective card must be renewed within the deadline set by Færdselsstyrelsen, and driving may only continue under the applicable exemption rules.