All Large Good Vehicles (LGV) manufactured after 1st May 2006 over 3.5 tonnes gross permissible weight must be fitted with a Tachograph to ensure the accurate recording of driver’s hours.

A new EC Regulation on drivers’ hours (Regulation (EC) 561/2006) was agreed in December 2006 the main requirements of which came into force on 11 April 2007. The new Regulation clarified weekly driving limits; requires more frequent and evenly spread breaks; increases daily rest requirements; and updates exemptions and national derogations.

Some elements, mainly relating to changes to the existing tachograph rules, came into force on 1 May 2006 (20 days after the Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union). These include a change to the number of tachograph charts that drivers are required to carry with them for the purposes of roadside checks and the mandatory fitment of digital tachographs in any in-scope vehicles first put into service on or after 1 May 2006.