The decision by Sweden and Norway to waive fines for not having the new tachograph is due to a combination of factors, including the delay in the Galileo signal and the shortage of tachographs.
In Sweden, the government has said that the exemption from fines will apply for the period from August 21, 2023 to January 31, 2024.
“Unfortunately, it is currently impossible for the industry to follow the rules because there are no new tachographs to get hold of,” told Andreas Carlson, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing to the transportation news site Transportnet.se. “According to the government’s assessment, it is not sustainable that newly built vehicles should be forced to stand still until there are new tachographs ready to be installed.”
In Norway, the Norwegian Road Administration has said that it will not sanction violations of the requirement for a new speed recorder until September 30, 2023 for national transport in Norway.
“The Norwegian Road Administration understands that it is challenging for the industry to meet the deadline,” quotes Lastebil.no Marianne Dreyer, director of the Norwegian Road Administration . “We will therefore not sanction violations of the requirement for a new speed recorder until 30 September 2023 for national transport in Norway. This is in line with discussions the EU has had with the member states.”
As we have earlier reported, the EU itself is struggling with the introduction of the new tachograph regulations.
The new version of tachographs, the so-called Smart Tachograph 2 (SMT2), should be installed in all new HGVs from August 21 2023, in line with the Mobility Package regulations. One of the important features the new devices will provide is the automatic recording of vehicles’ border crossings.
To do so, the SMT2 devices must be ready to authenticate the signal from the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) satellite service – as soon as the new Galileo system is operational.
Herein lies the problem – as the EC has informed Trans.INFO back in January, the service will not be available before December 2023.
Last, week, IRU called on the the European Commission to recommend Member States to exceptionally provide a grace period until the end of 2023 for the installation of SMT2 devices in vehicles registered as of today, for both national and cross-border transports, due to delays in the delivery of the new smart tachograph.
Commenting on the smart tachograph issue today, IRU Director of EU, Raluca Marian, said:
“Our sector has been looking forward to the smart tachograph version 2. Among other benefits, its new features could reduce the number of roadside checks and improve the experience of drivers and enforcers by targeting only frequent and heavy offenders, a scenario IRU has long pleaded for. But the delays in the delivery of the new tachographs may block between 20,000 and 40,000 vehicles from registration until the end of 2023. This blockage is unacceptable. It means delays in receiving new vehicles, which may materially affect transport operators’ planning and, consequently, the EU’s passenger and goods transport capacity.”
IRU warns that even if a Member State unilaterally decides to exceptionally accept the registration and circulation of new vehicles equipped with SMT1 devices, transport operators may be fined if they cross the borders of Member States following a different approach.