Zsinkai, a Hungarian officer who has served in the police since 1998, is currently working in Hungary’s national traffic police, where she is responsible for national crash prevention among other things.
Moreover, Zsinkai has been an active Roadpol operative since 2016 as member of Operational Working Group, and is currently President of the organisation.
Keen to learn how tech is influencing the clampdown on rogue hauliers, we reached out to Roadpol to get Zsinkai’s thoughts on smart tachographs, weekly rest checks, and the fight against tachograph manipulation.
First off, with the impending impact of significantly higher tolls coming to German roads, there have been fears that the use of so-called ‘GPS-jammers’ could become more widespread. We therefore asked Roadpol’s President if she felt this criminal activity could become more commonplace.
In response, Zsinkai stressed that she did not wish to speculate about what could be, saying the answer “depends on the behaviour of drivers and/or their employers”. Zsinkai added that she believed the drivers who have complied with the rules up to now are likely to continue to comply with them after this, regardless of the level of tolls.
Another key development in the last year or so has been the increased use of remote tachograph checks, with several authorities in European nations now trialling remote tachograph reading tech.
With this in mind, we quizzed Zsinkai on how long it will be until such inspections become the norm.
Zsinkai told trans.iNFO that according to Roadpol’s experts on commercial transportation, Sven Kilian from the Police at the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Frederic Martin from the Belgian Federal Police, EU member states have until 18th August 2024 to equip their control services with the so-called DSRC control (or remote early detection) modules.
“We are currently already seeing that several European police services and inspection services are testing and purchasing the existing DSRC modules. There are several manufacturers on the market which offer different solutions: Stationary or mobile / flexible tools, mounted on bridges, gateways or simply on control vehicles. The police forces now have to test the various tools and to decide which solution suits best for their needs, their daily work and their strategies,” added Zsinkai.
Another factor here, as Zsinkai explained, is the new version of the smart tachograph that was launched earlier this year. In Zsinkai’s opinion, it shall provide road traffic officers with more information via the use of DSRC control modules.
“With the Version 2 of the smart tachograph enforcers are able to check various parameters of currently ongoing driving times, e.g. 4.5 hours blocks, working shifts today and in the running week, as well as weekly and fortnightly driving times,” stressed Zsinkai.
When can we expect to see significant change or a tipping point with regards to these checks? Zsinkai emphasised the date of 1st January 2025, which is when every truck engaged in international transport must be equipped with a smart tachograph version 2.
“From then on, the DSRC module will become a real added value in the selection of vehicles to be checked. But what is important: the DSRC file read out by this enforcement-equipment cannot be used as a legal base for imposing a fine or infringement. It will just help the enforcement community to pre-select vehicles –based on tachograph information – out of the running traffic. In any case the vehicle has to be stopped and checked in the common way,” Zsinkai told trans.iNFO.
It is clear then, that technology is empowering road traffic officers across Europe and providing new tools to detect rogue hauliers. However, the tech used to create tachograph manipulations is also evolving and becoming more sophisticated.
Taking this into account, we asked the Roadpol President if it is becoming more or less difficult to detect tachograph manipulations as technology develops.
Zsinkai admitted that it is “becoming more and more difficult to detect fraud/manipulation with the tachograph”.
However, she too explained how Roadpol is upping its game to train its staff as best as possible to detect fraud and manipulation relating to tachographs.
A case in point, according to Zsinkai, is Roadpol’s seminars, which are either done in-house or in cooperation with ECR (Euro Controle Route). The expert advice and knowledge shared during these events is allowing various member states to take their knowledge about tachograph manipulations to a higher level.
“The trainers within Roadpol are aware of the latest new manipulations discovered throughout Europe and they try to share their knowledge and expertise with other European inspectors. It is also through this European cooperation that we have been able to narrow the gap between the control services and the fraudsters. Now we can react much more quickly compared to before,” said the Roadpol President.
Besides the influence of technology on commercial controls, there have also been legislatory influences of note this year. Readers may recall the recent European Commission ruling on weekly rest, which states that police cannot demand physical proof (e.g. hotel receipts) that these rest periods have actually taken place inside the cabin.
Has this made it more difficult for road traffic officers to police this law? In response to this very question, Zsinkai said:
“Generally, it is not forbidden to ask the driver whether he has a physical proof or not. Talking to drivers and asking questions during roadside checks is part of the daily job. The European Commission – DG Move – published a note on 23rd of March 2023 on how to enforce the weekly rest periods. Roadpol was as well involved in the development of this document and asked by DG Move to make experiences and best practices. In this process Roadpol annotated that talking and asking a driver is essential to clear open questions and cases (e.g. whether he has hotel invoices, other documents, etc.). What is clear and cannot be done is imposing a fine based on the fact that the driver is not able to present a physical proof.”
Zsinkai added that the “matter has never been easy to control,” and that “most of the European member states have never asked for physical evidence of hotel stays by drivers”.
“Most of our Member States carry out these checks but use different tools to substantiate their findings in this regard. Of course, as you will understand, we cannot go into too much detail about how these Member States carry out these checks. But you can assume that this matter is indeed checked and that there is a great need for the driver to perform his work in the best possible and safe conditions. A well-equipped driver who can perform his work in the best possible conditions contributes to safer traffic and fewer accidents where fatigue has played a role,” Zsinkai told trans.iNFO.