im sure I know the answer, I just need to confirm.
im going to do 3hrs of refresher training in the same truck I passed my c+e test in last year (feb), just to get the gears and the length issues back in my head.
Do I need to use the tacho for those 3 hrs? I am not doing it for ‘hire or reward’ so im not sure if it applies.
The tacho must be used if the purpose is towards the carriage of goods or passengers and as the vehicle will not be doing this (I am assuming that water IBC ballast does not count) then it does not come under the regs = article 1 of the regs
I cannot see how it can be anything else because it does not come under the exemptions for dcpc or licence acquisition and the tacho in the vehicle does not come under the tacho calibration rules on a training vehicle so using the tacho for official recording cannot be done
That’s my take on it
ahh cheers Rog, that makes sense. Just so I have a come-back if anyone asks, So a training veh doesn’t have to have a calibrated tacho? as it isn’t used for the purposes of training?
wheelyb:
ahh cheers Rog, that makes sense. Just so I have a come-back if anyone asks, So a training veh doesn’t have to have a calibrated tacho? as it isn’t used for the purposes of training?
LGVs used for training only that are fitted with a tacho must have it sealed but are not required by law to have that tacho calibrated like other LGVs that are used for delivering goods etc
wheelyb:
im sure I know the answer, I just need to confirm.
im going to do 3hrs of refresher training in the same truck I passed my c+e test in last year (feb), just to get the gears and the length issues back in my head.
Do I need to use the tacho for those 3 hrs? I am not doing it for ‘hire or reward’ so im not sure if it applies.
Presumably the training vehicle will be partly loaded as per current test rules, in which case you will have to use the tachograph.
It’s a goods vehicle carrying goods, the fact that you’re not delivering the goods makes no difference, goods is goods, and you’re not using the vehicle for training with the purpose of taking a test so there’s no exemption from tachograph regulations that I can think of.
That’s the way I see it anyway
tachograph:
Presumably the training vehicle will be partly loaded as per current test rules, in which case you will have to use the tachograph.
That’s the bit I wondered about - is weight ballast classed as goods?
If it is classed as goods then as in most cases the tacho is not calibrated for the purpose of officially recording then its a legal non starter for any training school unless they unload the ballast of course
ROG:
tachograph:
Presumably the training vehicle will be partly loaded as per current test rules, in which case you will have to use the tachograph.That’s the bit I wondered about - is weight ballast classed as goods?
If it is classed as goods then as in most cases the tacho is not calibrated for the purpose of officially recording then its a legal non starter for any training school unless they unload the ballast of course
I don’t know to much about the test but I believe the vehicle carries a container of water, call it ballast or whatever but I assume it’s usually just strapped onto the vehicle so don’t see how it’s not classed as goods.
I’ve just had another look through the exemptions and can’t see anything that would excuse a driver in the OPs situation from using the tachograph if the vehicle is carrying a container of water or whatever.
LGVs used for training only that are fitted with a tacho must have it sealed but are not required by law to have that tacho calibrated like other LGVs that are used for delivering goods etc
I suggest you try MOT ing a training vehicle without a calibrated tacho. And given that the 2 year check doesn’t apply to digitach, all modern training vehicles do have a calibrated tacho.
Refresher training, IMO, falls down the cracks in the rules. The exemption (and I haven’t got it in front of me or the time to find it) is along the lines of vehicles being used towards licence acquisision or driver cpc.
Pete 
Peter Smythe:
Refresher training, IMO, falls down the cracks in the rules. The exemption (and I haven’t got it in front of me or the time to find it) is along the lines of vehicles being used towards licence acquisision or driver cpc.quote]So seeing as I already have the licence, I need to use the tacho, the same as you would having an assessment for a driving job?
Why not use it anyway (assuming you have the digicard) that way it gets you back into the swing of tacho things too!?
I actually enquired about using my digicard during training and although my trainer was happy for me to do so we decided not to bother as I had enough to worry my head about. I had wanted to use it just to give me experience with the tacho too.
I asked about tacho when doing my training and was told you are exempt. The tacho was analog one behind the speedo. Now on my test day the examiner asked me to show him how to open the tacho and install a new graph card thingy, to which I did
Peter, is there a legal requirement to have the tacho in a training vehicle calibrated or just sealed?
I ask because when I was in the game it just had to be sealed and there was no legal requirement for anything else
Also, are IBCs of water legally classed as goods? … bet there is no legal definitive on that one?
I am thinking not goods because a mechanic taking a ballasted trailer for an MOT is not deemed as delivering goods as far as I can remember …
Hi ROG. The tacho in a training vehicle does need to be calibrated. I agree that there was a time when it just needed to be sealed. Then the calibration was enforced but not the 2 year check on analogue. But as all trucks from May 2006 are digital, this doesn’t apply.
There is an exemption somewhere for the IBC’s to cover O licencing.
Personally, I would be very happy if O licencing regs were changed ceasing the exemption for training vehicles. Some of the wrecks running around with L plates are lethal deathtraps as they are not subject to the stringent maintenance routine of “real world” trucks. I would happily see these removed from the roads in the interest of everyone’s safety.
As a former coach and truck operator, I still operate my fleet in accordance with the O licence regs. As a result, I cant remember the last significant breakdown or MOT failure.
Realised I’ve gone way off topic. Sorry.
Pete
Thanks Peter - I only used analogue so was not aware of digi rules