The latest generation of digital tachographs has been in use for a couple of months. They differ from previous devices by e.g. better protection against tampering. From the driver’s perspective, the operation of the device remains the same, but further changes to the tachograph functions are planned in the future.
From 15 June onwards, every newly registered vehicle (according to Regulation 561/2006/EC) must have a tachograph 4.0 installed.
Smart tachographs are equipped with two additional interfaces, extending their functionality, which were not present in the previous generation of devices.
GNSS
– geolocation module. Its task is to record the location of the vehicle at the beginning and end of the working day and after 3 hours of driving. The GNSS module is also used as a second source of information about the speed of the vehicle in order to make it more difficult to manipulate the indications of the device.
DSRC
– remote communication module, which enables the Road Transport Inspectorate to remotely preselect vehicles for inspection. The system allows some tachograph data to be read without stopping the vehicle. Their analysis will identify possible violations of the driver’s working time record or tampering with tachograph data.
New protections
Tachographs 4.0 are also equipped with a new data encryption system, which is also used in the refreshed version of the KITAS 4.0 motion sensor. In addition, this sensor is assigned to a specific tachograph unit. Apart from these improvements in data security, it is also worth mentioning the seals with the serial number entered in the memory of the device and completely new encryption keys, which have increased resistance to manipulation.
More changes soon?
Fair companies and drivers will not be directly affected by the technological change in tachographs. The operation of the device is practically unchanged. Unfortunately, the announced possibility of automatic registration of countries at the start and end of the working day based on GNSS data has not yet been introduced. This feature is not yet available, but it may be added with software updates.
However, manufacturers of smart tachographs ensure that this is the first version of the device and that new features will certainly be available in the future.
Photo: Trans.INFO