How did you cover the time you’d already driven during the last 28 days?
I made several trips on the Continent this month for two different operators in 3 different units.
(I’m retired and drive as a relief driver for a couple of firms) .
The units are obviously scattered around Europe and the actual downloads of the VU would be a non-starter before an upcoming trip (The new card will be here Wednesday)
Can you/Did you, just approximate the driving hours from the diary, and fill in a separate sheet of paper explaining; and attach it to the normal attestation after a few days off? or is there a procedure to follow.
Bulker44:
Can you/Did you, just approximate the driving hours from the diary, and fill in a separate sheet of paper explaining; and attach it to the normal attestation after a few days off?
I had a quick look on the Gov.uk site on their digi tacho page, it says nothing useful that I could find. So this ^ seems your only option.
Not a great one to be honest. You’d probably be ok if you get a pull in the UK, but can you see the Germans or Belgians saying, “ok, no problem mate, on you go”?
Not sure of the procedure if you’ve already done the driving, but the information below might be helpful to other drivers for future reference.
I would keep your diary with you, make sure it’s up to date with all the relevant driving & rest times & hope you don’t get a Tug in Fuzzy Wuzzy Land.
Drivers who have malfunctioning Digital Tachograph Cards MUST ring the following number:
0300 7906109
Between the hours of 8am -8.30pm Monday – Friday and 8am – 5.30 pm Saturday
Listen to the recorded message then follow the options available.
The DVLA will then give you a reference number that will allow you to continue to drive legally for 15 days as long as you have the number to produce at a roadside check.
You must apply for your new card using application form D777B (DL) which can be obtained from a local DVLA office, or ask your Traffic Office.
Before returning your old card try to download the stored data.
I finally tracked down a DVSA inspector who spent quite a lot of time on the phone with me; answering this issue and a few questions that I’ve had doubts over the last couple of years.
The end result was just to keep a diary with you as some of you suggested. Nothing more.
I said that I could only estimate some things from my pretty rough diary, and that seemed okay…
It seems it’s not that unusual a situation and her supervisor responded immediately (I could hear the conversation as they spoke) saying nobody would question this as a practical means of providing the required record, but mentioned that it would be part of the overall impression you create at the time. eg: If your paperwork, weights, roadworthiness and digicard are all showing a practical intent to stay within the law, they wouldn’t think twice about it.
I keep a slightly more accurate diary now just in case…
