On an analogue tachograph I always take a couple of extra minutes so there’s no doubt about whether or not I’ve had the correct breaks.
Muckaway:
Saaamon:
I’m on a paper chart with digi display type affair, looks abit like a digi tacho but isn’t, dont know what the proper name is for it. Assume you cant do it with them?I’ve got that sort, a cd player type draw that slides out? I heard they were a stop gap while the digis were being sorted out.
Analogue question; Who makes manual entries on the back for rest periods before and after you finish shift? I do but the few of those I work with still on analogues don’t bother and 'm wondering if I’m wasting my time??
Yes you are
Mrknowitall:
I was allways told to give it 5 minutes more20mins 35mins 50mins 9hours and 5mins 11hours and 5mins
simple
Yeah, a lot of companies tell drivers ■■■■■■■■ about the tacho instead of just teaching them how to use it.
Cruise Control:
i always take an 18, 33 or 47 min break, as i have took it off break before when the display says 15,30,45mins break taken and only 13,28,43 min break has been recorded by the machine, if you change it bang on when it ticks over to say 45 and crack on it seems to only record a 43min break sometimes■■?
Only if it is defective. Once the amount of break display on a digi shows 15, 30 or 45 minutes taken it won’t revert back to anything else when you move.
Its those pair shaped tacho charts that are defective 
If you stack about 6 of them and check them they have been known to be upto 30 minutes out in some cases it is common knowledge amongst drivers but vosa and your boss will allways deny it 
Some timers like hour gaurd type, when you hit break it can show one minute after a couple of seconds, depending on its internal clock says, eg hit break at 10.35and55sec after 5sec display shows 1 min break (thats my theory for mine ), this is perhaps where people have said to add on a couple of minutes to cover this. Minute at start and minute at end to cover the guess work. If a stop watch type timer 15 min and good to go
Darb:
when I press the break button and start my timer what would you let the timer go to before you were confident that it had registered the full 15 ?
Mrknowitall:
Its those pair shaped tacho charts that are defective
Doesn’t matter if the marking on different charts don’t match up, you tend to take all your break on one chart.
doesn’t matter if it’s digital or analogue i always take a few extra minutes more than i need to wether it’s a 15 ,30 or a 45 , just because , well you know , i just do 
Its more about your overnight break i was talking about coffeeholic 
you dont use the same chart for that do you One of our drivers kept getting told he was not taking enouth overnight break so he threw a weeks charts on the floor and told them to line all the pear shaped holes up and they all were upto 15-20 minutes out on the line up if you try the same test you will see for yourself what i am saying
Mrknowitall:
Its more about your overnight break i was talking about coffeeholic
This topic is about breaks and you don’t take breaks overnight, you take rest. Break and rest are not the same thing, and thinking they are often leads to drivers making an arse of themselves by saying such things as - “You can’t take a break there because you are not free to dispose of your.” time. And yes, I used to take rest on the same chart as I would leave one in overnight.
Mrknowitall:
Its more about your overnight break i was talking about coffeeholic
I cannot accept that properly manufactured cards with the correct E marked approval number on the list of compatible machines are not accurate. If you buy your cards from Romania or China, this may be possible, but if you buy original manufacturers charts, they go through stringent quality controls. I prefer to trust them than believe that a card can be 15 - 20 minutes off centre.
If you have 45 minutes break or 9 hours rest, that is the time you have had, we all use the same primitive time keeping device which was designed over 4.5 billion years ago, we rely on one big lump of rock rotating and call it 24 hours
Were on Anologue and I give it a min or 2 extra for safety’s sake, the place that assess our tacho’s do fail to see thick black lines of manual entries on the back so I dare not trust them to measure a 15 min break bob on…
There is only one vehicle where I work that has digi tacho. With that I always add 2 mins as I have been caught out before.
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurate, but have been advised to add 2 mins just to be sure.
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurate
That would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurateThat would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
No. I had a 15 min break at destination in the digi tacho vehicle and timed it with my phone. Started phone timer AFTER selecting break then selected other work AFTER phone timer had counted down. Did the same for my 30 min break. After 4 hours total driving I got a dash warning saying I hadn’t had a break. Digi tacho you need to add 2 mins. Analogue tacho you can get away with 15 or 30 min break instead of 17 or 32 min break. Fact.
Squiddy:
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurateThat would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
No. I had a 15 min break at destination in the digi tacho vehicle and timed it with my phone. Started phone timer AFTER selecting break then selected other work AFTER phone timer had counted down. Did the same for my 30 min break. After 4 hours total driving I got a dash warning saying I hadn’t had a break. Digi tacho you need to add 2 mins. Analogue tacho you can get away with 15 or 30 min break instead of 17 or 32 min break. Fact.
Coffeeholic did say “except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone”.
If you read the break duration off the digital tachograph it’s accurate.
For the Siemens tachograph when stationary, from the standard display press “OK” and you will see the screen bellow, the bottom right hand corner shows the duration of the current break, top right hand corner shows the accumulated breaks of over 15 minutes.
I’ve always used this, sometimes pulling away when the tachograph showed dead on 15/30 or 45 minutes and never once had a problem
Squiddy:
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurateThat would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
No. I had a 15 min break at destination in the digi tacho vehicle and timed it with my phone. Started phone timer AFTER selecting break then selected other work AFTER phone timer had counted down. Did the same for my 30 min break. After 4 hours total driving I got a dash warning saying I hadn’t had a break. Digi tacho you need to add 2 mins. Analogue tacho you can get away with 15 or 30 min break instead of 17 or 32 min break. Fact.
I trust this clarifies matters for you. 
I have never added minutes on to a 15, 30 or 45 minute break or a 9 or 11 hour rest, when I wanted to take the minimum and crack on, in 5 years of using a digi and never had a problem, often sitting watching it until it clicks over to the time I need and driving straight off. Just go by the break/rest display on the tacho and when that shows the amount you need you are good to go. No need to use phone or Big Timers or add anything on.
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurateThat would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
No. I had a 15 min break at destination in the digi tacho vehicle and timed it with my phone. Started phone timer AFTER selecting break then selected other work AFTER phone timer had counted down. Did the same for my 30 min break. After 4 hours total driving I got a dash warning saying I hadn’t had a break. Digi tacho you need to add 2 mins. Analogue tacho you can get away with 15 or 30 min break instead of 17 or 32 min break. Fact.
no tacho is a 100% acuarate
I trust this clarifies matters for you.I have never added minutes on to a 15, 30 or 45 minute break or a 9 or 11 hour rest, when I wanted to take the minimum and crack on, in 5 years of using a digi and never had a problem, often sitting watching it until it clicks over to the time I need and driving straight off. Just go by the break/rest display on the tacho and when that shows the amount you need you are good to go. No need to use phone or Big Timers or add anything on.
Mrknowitall:
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
Coffeeholic:
Squiddy:
With analogue tachos I set break, start 15 or 30 or 45 min countdown on my phone then switch back to other work when it’s timed out. Never had a warning for it so it’s pretty acurateThat would work with a digi as well, except you could use its built in timer instead of your phone.
No. I had a 15 min break at destination in the digi tacho vehicle and timed it with my phone. Started phone timer AFTER selecting break then selected other work AFTER phone timer had counted down. Did the same for my 30 min break. After 4 hours total driving I got a dash warning saying I hadn’t had a break. Digi tacho you need to add 2 mins. Analogue tacho you can get away with 15 or 30 min break instead of 17 or 32 min break. Fact.
no tacho is a 100% acuarate
Doesn’t matter how accurate it is overall, once that display shows the figure you want you can go, it isn’t going to suddenly change back, and that is the figure the analysis people and VOSA will go by.
If you finish at 2100hrs on a thursday and start at 0600hrs on the friday your clock may read the correct times but your analouge chart may restart at 0545hrs even though the clock is correct meaning that you have had 8hrs and 45mins break instead of 9hrs This is just one example and it has happened to me 
and its not always the cheap charts that are faulty And vosa will only take notice of whatever is recorded on your charts