IN THE coming months many HGV workshops will for the first time have to perform a periodic smart tachograph inspection to the new Annex 1C legislation.
From the summer of 2019, the DTCO tachograph was calibrated into all new vehicles, however the first trucks with smart tachos that are due for mandatory two-year periodic inspection and maintenance will start coming to workshops only now.
“Staff know about this, but many are still not prepared for the new tachographs. We’re in constant contact with our workshop partners in order to provide maximum transparency,” said Continental’s tachograph expert Markus Weide, who is not surprised by the hesitancy of these businesses. “After all, many are asking themselves whether it’s worth the effort and expense to invest in DSRC and GNSS test equipment, plus additional peripheral devices.”
When confronted with such misgivings, he reminds the workshops that tachograph checks are linked with other service appointments. If they no longer offer periodic inspections as part of their service portfolio, they run the risk of losing regular customers, because the advantages of “one-stop shopping” for inspection and tachograph testing are much appreciated. “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 explained.
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