Hi all, I had my first day out in a 7.5 tonner yesterday as a drivers mate (im just waiting for my driving assessment). I was trying to see what the driver did with the tacho but couldn’t make it out. they said every time they stopped the tacho went onto break mode on its own.
If doing multi drop where the driver has to leave the van should the tacho be put on other work before the driver leaves the cab?
coop
cooper1203:
Hi all, I had my first day out in a 7.5 tonner yesterday as a drivers mate (im just waiting for my driving assessment). I was trying to see what the driver did with the tacho but couldn’t make it out. they said every time they stopped the tacho went onto break mode on its own.If doing multi drop where the driver has to leave the van should the tacho be put on other work before the driver leaves the cab?
coop
YES
Some change to break/rest and others to other work - I think this can be changed by the approved fitters 
Most will automatically change to other work, but if they don’t then you will have to manually change it when you stop. DVSA tend to get a bit funny with you if you have multiple 15-30 minute breaks but no periods of other work when you’re 8 hours into a shift of multidrop work…
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When the vehicle stops moving the tachograph will automatically change to other work, when the ignition is switched off the tachograph mode will change to whatever the tachograph has been set to change to, it’s usually break or other work.
If the “ignition off” setting is set to break then legally you should change it to other work every-time you switch off the ignition and are not going on a break, it can be a pita but you soon get used to it.
When driving different vehicles every day it’s a good idea to start the shift by checking what the tachograph defaults to when the ignition is switched off.
The particular setup you are talking about can cause issues if an accidental 45 minute break is registered, as it resets your driving possibly earlier than you wanted.
Also, look out for trucks that (when set to break) change to other work when the ignition is:
a) turned on
b) turned off
For example a driver puts it on break, walks away from the truck for 44 minutes. Comes back, ignition on, doesn’t look at tachograph, 44 minute break registered. If you catch the change you can change it back immediately on some tachographs and you are okay.
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I have found that any vehicle that is left on break when you put your card in will automatically revert back to break every single time you stop even when you don’t want it to.
To avoid this I always look at the screen BEFORE putting my card in and change it to other work, by doing this when ever you stop it will rightly switch to other work as it should and when you want to take a break to need to manually put it on a break.
There is a few online tachograph simulators that you can use to get some practice on before using the real thing, this is time really well spent if you ask me, and if I was you I’d spend a good couple of hours on it to get up to speed.
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Well-Jell:
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I have found that any vehicle that is left on break when you put your card in will automatically revert back to break every single time you stop even when you don’t want it to.To avoid this I always look at the screen BEFORE putting my card in and change it to other work, by doing this when ever you stop it will rightly switch to other work as it should and when you want to take a break to need to manually put it on a break.
I’m sorry but this simply is not correct, if you’ve found that putting the tachograph on other work before inserting the driver card means it will always default to other work it can only be coincidence, you must have a tachograph that’s set to default to other work when it does that.
Digital tachographs have a setting that the tachograph mode defaults to when the ignition is switched on or off, only by changing these settings can you dictate what mode the tachograph defaults to when the ignition is switched on or off.
The default ignition off setting can be break, POA, other work or no change, personally I think “no change” is the most sensible default mode but i don’t think I’ve never used a digital tachograph that’s set that way, they seem to usually be set to default to break or other work.
Both VDO and Stoneridge digital tachographs have these setting, the only difference is that on a Stoneridge tachograph the default ignition off setting can be changed with the use of the company card whereas a VDO tachograph can only be changed at a tachograph centre.
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It’s FACT.
When in one day and saw on the display that it was on break before putting me card in but just thought ‘’ sod it, it will change to driving when I move off ‘’ so I left it, and the end of that day I needed to do a print out for one reason or another and noticed I had accumulated slightly over 5 hours break in little dribs and drabs throughout the day doing multi drop.
Next day I went in after the night shift had finished with it and set it to other work before putting my card in, not a single problem since, I rest my case, FACT.
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Well-Jell:
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It’s FACT.When in one day and saw on the display that it was on break before putting me card in but just thought ‘’ sod it, it will change to driving when I move off ‘’ so I left it, and the end of that day I needed to do a print out for one reason or another and noticed I had accumulated slightly over 5 hours break in little dribs and drabs throughout the day doing multi drop.
Next day I went in after the night shift had finished with it and set it to other work before putting my card in, not a single problem since, I rest my case, FACT.
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Perhaps another can try that because perhaps it could be a software thing with a certain make of tacho
ROG:
Well-Jell:
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It’s FACT.When in one day and saw on the display that it was on break before putting me card in but just thought ‘’ sod it, it will change to driving when I move off ‘’ so I left it, and the end of that day I needed to do a print out for one reason or another and noticed I had accumulated slightly over 5 hours break in little dribs and drabs throughout the day doing multi drop.
Next day I went in after the night shift had finished with it and set it to other work before putting my card in, not a single problem since, I rest my case, FACT.
.Perhaps another can try that because perhaps it could be a software thing with a certain make of tacho
It would be interesting if someone could try it because it goes against what’s in the instruction manuals for both VDO and Stoneridge tachographs.
By the way, typing “FACT” in caps doesn’t make it so, this is not Facebook 
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Well I often wondered why it was left on break every morning after the night shift had used it anyway as you can’t finish your shift on a break.
So that part of it, like you say could be in the settings to revert to break, either that or the night shift was playing tricks on me for the next day, either way it can be overridden as this definitely does work, I’ve done it hundreds of times now, FACT 
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On a side note, I’ve never been on Facebook in my life, and nor do I intend to.
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