It might be a silly question but I am in process of buying a 4x4 ( probably land rover discovery) & using the vehicle for towing cars & machinery on trailer for my work, Is it true that now I need to have a tachograph fitted and have to abide by the driver hours rules? If so does this mean i cannot drive this vehicle for personal use after towing all day on tacho rules? As I said might be silly question but I want to use vehicle for both work and pleasure etc! I would be grateful on any feedback on this!
paulsou:
It might be a silly question but I am in process of buying a 4x4 ( probably land rover discovery) & using the vehicle for towing cars & machinery on trailer for my work, Is it true that now I need to have a tachograph fitted and have to abide by the driver hours rules? If so does this mean i cannot drive this vehicle for personal use after towing all day on tacho rules? As I said might be silly question but I want to use vehicle for both work and pleasure etc! I would be grateful on any feedback on this!
Yes you will need a tacho because I cannot see the total of the plated GVW/MAMs being under 3500 kgs
There is an exemption for total MAM under 7500 kgs if the stuff on the trailer belongs to you, the driving is not the main part of your job and you are within 50kms of your base at all times when driving commercially
For private use it would be best to select the out of scope option but you can legally ignore the tacho
What you cannot do is to use it to go somewhere commercially and then come back privately or vice-versa
Check with others for operator licence rules but I think that vehicle comes under dual purpose rules which means you do not need an O licence = not certain of that
It does look like i need a tacho for towing a trailer with diggers & cars on for my business whilst using a discovery, but i need to know can i use the same vehicle for personal without tacho, after driving it for say 8 hours towing? i;m running business using my own motor but cant afford to get another vehicle as yet! The disco is my all rounder!
paulsou:
It does look like i need a tacho for towing a trailer with diggers & cars on for my business whilst using a discovery, but i need to know can i use the same vehicle for personal without tacho, after driving it for say 8 hours towing? i;m running business using my own motor but cant afford to get another vehicle as yet! The disco is my all rounder!
As ROG said above, you use the tacho for personal use by selecting ‘Out of Scope’.
Remember that the digicard must be downloaded within a certain timeframe and so must the digital tachograph (I think) so how have you addressed that issue ?
Hi
I recently made and enquiry to VOSA about the same situation regarding having a ford ranger 4x4 and using it for towing both for personal and business.
The answer so far is they go by the GVM of the vehicle and then the GVM of the trailer, so if your vehicle is 3495kg and your GVM of the trailer is 30kg then you both need a tacho and an operators licence, but when I posed the question about using the vehicle and trailer for private use, Im still awaiting the reply…
Probably come back and tell me I can’t use a vehicle with a tacho for private use… 
I certainly am looking at getting a vehicle with a decent tow weight but Im not gonna be dictated to by VOSA when I can or cant use a vehicle
Of course a vehicle can be used for private use if tacho fitted - 7.5 tonners used privately do it all the time and the same rules apply to all those between 3.5 and 7.5 with tacho fitted
If under 3.5 then its out of scope for eu regs