Continental has called attention to changes in the testing of smart tachographs as the new generation comes up for their first periodic inspections.
Smart tachographs have been mandatory for in-scope vehicles registered after 15 June 2019. The first vehicles fitted with smart tachographs are due for their mandatory two-year inspection. Technology supplier is calling attention to the change in testing requirements of smart tachographs compared to older generations.
“Smart tachographs have new interfaces, and workshops will have to be able to test them. Besides performing familiar tasks like checking the integrity of the KITAS seal and testing the tachograph’s memory functions, they will now have to test the DSRC interface and satellite reception,” Continental says. “The test personnel will have to demonstrate that they have the technical prerequisites for activating, testing, installing and later inspecting smart tachographs.
“In addition, workshops that perform these tests will need a workshop card of the second generation. Continental advises workshops to update their equipment and knowledge and make sure that their technicians are trained and certified for the new generation.”
Continental offers its VDO Workshop Tablet as a solution to test equipment.
Continental’s tachograph expert Markus Weide says some businesses are not prepared for the new tachographs: “We’re in constant contact with our workshop partners in order to provide maximum transparency. Many are asking themselves whether it’s worth the effort and expense to invest in DSRC and GNSS test equipment, plus additional peripheral devices.”
Mr Weide says workshops should remember that tachograph checks are linked with other service appointments and run the risk of losing regular customers if they no longer offer periodic inspections as part of their service portfolio. “Transport companies will hardly accept the unnecessary downtimes that come from making an appointment in workshop A for inspection and a separate appointment in workshop B for tachograph testing,” he adds.
Retrofitting campaigns for new tachographs are also on the horizon, warns Continental. The EU Mobility Package I required vehicles with a gross weight of 3.5 tons to be retrofitted with the second generation of smart tachographs by autumn 2025 if they are to be used for cross-border journeys. Digital tachographs will also be required for light commercial vehicles weighing 2.5 tons and over the following year (when also on cross-border transport).
“In view of this market potential, workshops should not ask themselves whether or not to offer periodic inspections in the future, but rather how to make the inspection process as fast and reliable as possible,” says Mr Weide.
