“The Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility is currently using the latest generation of emergency vehicles to implement a nationwide road traffic control service. The multitude of digital sensors makes the checks even more effective,” the office reports.
BALM emphasises that, thanks to the sensors and electronic control systems installed in these vehicles, it can now carry out a significant portion of monitoring tasks and oversee traffic across Germany.
“During road checks, key areas of driving and rest time regulations, tachograph data, and vehicle dimensions are inspected using digital interfaces. This means vehicles are only stopped if there is concrete suspicion of an offence,” explains the German authority.
This solution, on the one hand, helps to reduce unnecessary downtime, while on the other, it significantly increases the efficiency of roadside checks with minimal disruption to traffic flow.
As part of a pilot programme, BALM conducted 750,000 remote inspections in 2023 and checked one million vehicles in this way between January and October 2024.
“As the office’s fleet replacement progresses, a further increase in the number of inspections is expected,” BALM states.
Remote inspections
It is worth recalling that the obligation to use equipment for remote tachograph monitoring came into force last year. By 19 August 2024, all transport inspection authorities in the EU must be equipped with devices capable of remotely retrieving RTM (Remote Tachograph Monitoring) parameters via DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication).
It is also important to note that second-generation smart tachographs allow for the retrieval of 25 RTM parameters, compared to just 19 in first-generation devices. In addition to detecting errors suggesting tampering, the new systems will provide information on whether a driver is currently exceeding continuous, daily, weekly, or even fortnightly driving limits. As a result, the detection of infringements will become much more effective across EU roads.
In accordance with Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on tachographs in road transport, only the data necessary for targeted roadside checks of vehicles suspected of tachograph manipulation or misuse may be transmitted remotely. In the case of first-generation smart tachographs, this includes 19 parameters, which must refer to specific recorded events or data, such as:
- Last attempted security breach
- Longest power outage
- Sensor failure
- Speed or route data errors
- Data conflicts related to vehicle movement
- Driving without a valid card
- Inserting the card while driving
- Time setting data
- Calibration data (including the dates of the last two calibrations)
- Vehicle registration number
- Speed recorded by the tachograph
- The new version of the smart tachograph (2.0) provides additional information, including:
- Time of the last authenticated vehicle position
- Uninterrupted driving time
- Longest daily driving time in the current and previous period
- Longest daily driving time in the current week
- Weekly driving time
- Two-week driving time