So I was meant to start at a local firm this morning who said they’d take me on every other weekend and whatever days off I could get from my current job to get some much needed experience before they would hopefully find me a permanent place.
I was over the moon as it was kinda my ideal route into driving.
Was meant to start this morning with a run up to Scotland.
Arrived at the yard and after a bit of a chat we went to the truck to get started , only to find my Tachograph card would not work.
We tried in a few trucks but were all same.
They had said that one of their lads had reapplied for a new card around the same time mine was issued and his was exactly the same. They then had a letter/ update from DVLA saying there has been a bad batch of cards that all need replacing.
Anyone who got issued a card late May/ early June should be aware and if poss either try it in a truck or contact DVLA abs see what they say to try and avoid the issue I’ve just had this morning.
Totally gutted not to get out on the road today
(DVLA did say on the phone I could have done a manual entry for up to 15 days but this was after I’d already gone home )
As said if your driver card is lost stolen or faulty you can still drive for 15 days, you should report it to the DVLA asap and apply for a new card asap, I’ve never had to do it but I believe the DVLA will give you a reference number to show that you’ve reported the card lost stolen or faulty.
If you’re unable to use your driver card because it’s lost stolen or faulty this is the procedure you should use.
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At the start of the shift you must do a 24 hour vehicle printout and write your name or driver number on it then sign it.
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Throughout the shift you must use the tachograph mode switch to record your activities in the usual way.
-(When you use the activity mode switch all the driver activities are recorded on the tachograph head as well as the driver card, so if your card is not in the tachograph the driver activities are recorded anyway.)
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At the end of the shift do another 24 hour vehicle printout and write your name or driver number on it then sign it.
To do a vehicle printout, scroll through the tachograph menu to the printout menu, then choose 24h vehicle printout
I haven’t used a tachograph since I retired a few years ago so this is from memory and hopefully someone will be more specific if necessary.
I know I’m stating the obvious but the point of the vehicle printouts is that all the activities shown on the second printout that are not on the first printout are your activities for the shift.
This is the only legal way to work if your driver card is lost stolen or faulty, writing all your activities in a book like I saw one bloke doing is not legal and is likely to lead to a fixed penalty of £200.