Tachograph
A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity selected from a choice of modes.
The recording medium for analogue heads are wax coated paper discs, and for digital heads there are two recording mediums: internal memory (which can be read out with one of a variety of download devices into a so-called .ddd file) and digital driver cards containing a microchip with flash memory.
to accurately record their activities, retain the records (files from internal memory and from driver cards must both be retained) and produce them on demand to transport authorities who are in charge of enforcing regulations governing drivers' working hours.
[citation needed] For reasons of public safety, many jurisdictions have limits on the working hours of drivers of certain vehicles, such as buses and trucks.
The Verkehrs-Sicherungs-Gesetz (German Traffic Safety Law) of 19 December 1952, made tachographs mandatory in Germany for all commercial vehicles weighing over 7.5 tonnes.
[citation needed] Since 23 March and 23 December 1953, all new commercial vehicles and buses must be equipped with the device per law Straßenverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung § 57a.
36", penalties will be applied to freight vehicles with a gross weight of over 15 tons engaged in intercity transportation starting 1 July 2014, penalties will be applied to freight vehicles with a gross weight of over 12 tons engaged in intercity transportation starting 1 September 2014, and penalties will be applied to freight vehicles with a gross weight of over 3.5 tons engaged in intercity transportation starting 1 April 2015.
Requirements for the use of the CIPF unit as part of tachographs are established by Order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia No.
Before that date, no later than 3 months, all interested parties (drivers, inspectors, mechanics, administrators of motor transport enterprises) must be provided with special cards.
All information is recorded on an individual driver card and transmitted to the central computer of the motor transport enterprise.
And since 1 April 2013, the presence of a digital tachograph has become mandatory for all wheeled transport owned by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (including GAZelles and taxis), which is in operation on the territory of Russia, as reported in Federal Law No.
A "European arrangement in regard to the work of driving personnel engaged in international traffic" (AETR, from French Accord Européen sur les Transports Routiers) became effective on 31 July 1985.
Regulation 561/2006/EC of the European Union, adopted on 11 April 2007,[7] specified the driving and rest times of professional drivers.
[9] A "smart" tachograph records the position of a vehicle automatically via a global navigation satellite system at the places where the daily working period begins and ends, and at every three hour interval of accumulated driving.
Analogue discs can also be electronically scanned and analysed by computer, although this analogue to digital conversion process still requires human expert interpretation for best results, due to imperfections in the source disc such as dirt and scratch marks in the wax surface that can be incorrectly read as trace marks.
The chart features a pear-shaped aperture in the centre, ensuring it is perfectly aligned upon insertion into the tachograph head.
This includes the drivers name, the date(s) the disc refers to, the start and end odometer readings and the registration mark of the vehicle.
By counting the zig-zags, the total distance travelled can be calculated and compared against the stated odometer readings in the centrefield.
Earlier tachograph heads displayed the mode as a thin line in one of four concentric tracks within the activity band.
The rear face of the chart is printed with a grid that enables the driver to make handwritten additions or amendments to the information on the front.
[citation needed] Tachographs can be tampered with in various ways, such as slightly twisting the marker, blocking the path of the arm with a piece of rubber or foam, short-circuiting the unit for short periods, intentionally preventing the detection of gear movement with a magnet, or interrupting the (older analogue) tachograph's power supply with a blown fuse to stop operation completely thus recording no information whatsoever.
The last implementations developed in Mexico have GPS capabilities such as mapping, altitude and location-activated video triggering.
