The End of the Paper Driving License – where to go from here

From June 2015, the paper part of your drivers licence is no longer valid.

Essential information was held on the paper license, including points, bans etc.

This information is vital to the Transport Manager, to be able to know who is entitled to drive the company’s vehicles.

All employers have a duty of care to ensure any employee that is required to drive on behalf of the company is correctly licensed and entitled to drive.

MORE? » SmartLicence is a licence checking system that runs with SmartAnalysis.

A visual driving licence check once a year is not enough. Things can change very quickly and licence details should be verified with DVLA at least twice a year.

On high risk drivers, you can have an update every month.

According to statistics from DVLA:

22% of drivers are using out of date documents
1 million drivers in the UK are just 3 points away from a disqualification
Around 250,000 drivers are disqualified every year.

SmartLicence is a comprehensive online tool for managing driving licences and verifying the licence details with the DVLA. SmartLicence allows you to assess the risk of licensed drivers and conduct regular checks with the DVLA in accordance with that risk. SmartLicence provides a historical log of checks and any changes to the licence details demonstrating to the authorities that you have systems and processes in place to ensure staff are licensed to drive. As with Smartanalysis your data is secure, managed in accordance with ISO27001, backed up and always available wherever you have internet access.

Once set up the licence checks happen in the background. You will receive a report indicating which licences are due for a check and an opportunity to remove them so that you do not pay for drivers that no longer work for your organisation. SmartLicence also uses SmartAlerts to send you an automatic email alerts for issues that you may wish to take immediate action on.

For more information speak to our technical team at: 01472 210102

Smartanalysis: The Analogue & Digital Tachograph Analysis Software

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Are you tachograph compliant? Find out how Smartanalysis for Tachograph Charts can help you comply with Driver’s Hours and the Working Time Directive…

What is Smartanalysis?

Smartanalysis is the industry-leading tachograph analysis and compliance management software.
Smartanalysis is used by many of the UK’s leading transport operators to safeguard compliance with drivers’ hours and working time regulations and much more.
Smartanalysis eliminates the burden of managing and controlling the process for safeguarding your compliance, leaving you with more time to focus on your business.

How Smartanalysis works

Smartanalysis is a cloud based tachograph analysis software service that can be accessed securely wherever you have an internet connection. (FREE REGISTRATION HERE)

You send us your tachograph data. We store the data on our secure servers and make the data, analysis, reports and tools available for you to use on the Smartanalysis web site. We have over 100 standard reports for you to choose from and they can be sent to straight to your email whenever you need them.

Get started by creating your Smartanalysis account and we’ll also supply you with Smartanalysis ‘digital downloader’ software to install on a PC in each of your depots. We can also supply you with scanners, smartcard readers and download devices to transfer your analogue and digital tachograph data to Smartanalysis in our shop.

Key facts about Smartanalysis

It is used to analyse over 1,300,000 tachograph records every month.
It is deployed in over 12,000 locations throughout the UK and Europe by over 20,000 registered users.
6 out of the top 10 road transport companies by turnover (FY 2010) use Smartanalysis.
It is suitable for all HGV and PCV fleets – large and small.
It provides seamless analysis of both analogue and digital tachograph data.
It is cost effective. You only pay for the driver data you submit, no charge for VU downloads.
Your data is secure yet accessible any time, any place by authorised members of your staff.
Over 100 standard reports are available online or emailed to you.
Smartanalysis includes powerful tools to manage your infringements down.
It is fully supported and will ensure your compliance now and in the future by accommodating changes in legislation and tachograph hardware.

HGV Road User Levy becomes Law

The HGV Road User Act has become law meaning all LGV’s weighing more than 12 tonnes will be charged up to £1000 a year to use UK roads from April 2014. The charge applies to both UK based vehicles as well as foreign vehicles.

Charges will be determined by vehicle type, weight and number of axles with UK vehicles being banded according to their current VED bands.

To make the scheme as cost neutral as possible for UK hauliers, the government are due to reduce VED accordingly and grants for vehicles with reduced pollution certificates will be introduced.

A New Generation of Tamper-proof Tachographs

Magnet-resistant tachographs must now be fitted to all newly registered vehicles that require a tachograph. The move is the latest phase of the European Commission programme to improve the recording and enforcement of driving time and rest periods.

Operators can continue to use existing digital or analogue equipment on vehicles registered before 1^st October 2012. For those registered afterwards, the new-generation tachographs are designed to be tamper-proof against cases of fraud that use simple magnets.

Future changes will also be seen with proposals to introduce a ‘smart’ tachograph by 2017-2018 and also enabling enforcement agencies to access information without stopping the vehicle.

» Digital Tachograph Card Readers

Do your Walkaround Vehicle Checks warns VOSA

918-lgv-defect-report-pad1 VOSA have stated that 85% of issues found during roadside inspections should have been detected by the driver carrying out a proper walk-around inspection prior to taking the vehicle out on the road, or by noticing changes in the vehicle handling or behaviour whilst in use.

These common issues can result in fixed penalties or, in certain cases, endorsements being issued to the driver, a record of failing on the operators licence and changes to the operators OCRS (Operator Compliance Risk Score).

The most important element of carrying out these pre-use inspections is that they reduce accidents and incidents on our roads, they improve vehicle longevity and they save lives.

The drivers check is the final inspection before a vehicle hits the road. It is an important one. Make sure it is carried out correctly.

GB Tachopak are able to offer Daily Defect Report Pads containing the elements required for walk-around checks for both HGV and PCV. The books can be purchased online http://www.tachopak.co.uk/tachograph-systems.shtml or by phoning our Sales Team on 01472 210102.

Driver CPC Dates

The CPC deadline for bus and coach drivers with acquired rights is upon us. Drivers have to complete their 35 hours training for their qualification.

Driver CPC requires all professional bus, coach and lorry drivers to complete a minimum of 35 hours periodic training every five years for as long as they wish to continue to drive professionally. If you are a bus or coach driver and held your vocational licence (D, D1, DE, D1E) prior to 10 September 2008 you have acquired rights until 9 September 2013.

If you are a lorry driver and held your vocational licence (C, C1, CE, C1E) prior to 10 September 2009 you have acquired rights until 9 September 2014. To keep your Driver CPC and continue driving professionally beyond this date, you will need to complete 35 hours of periodic training.

» Please REGISTER FOR DRIVER CPC TRAINING here. On completion, drivers will receive a Driver Qualification Card:

This card, along with the drivers digital tachograph card needs to be carried with the driver at all times. Make storage simpler with a double card holder and lanyard available to purchase online or by telephone.

SmartLicence Will Help to Keep You Compliant

GB Tachopak’s Smartanalysis service introduces “Smartlicence”

A comprehensive online tool for managing driving licences and safeguarding your transport company to comply with the regulations.

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SmartLicence helps Operators manage the driving licences of any member of staff driving on behalf of the company. It will help to safeguard compliance with regulations and provides evidence to the authorities that you have effective systems and processes in place to ensure employees are entitled to drive.

SmartLicence is free to use for existing users of Smartanalysis. You only pay for verifying details with DVLA. Tokens can be purchased in advance for the anticipated number of DVLA checks in a year and used when required.

SmartLicence is fully supported and help is available in the SmartLicence User Guide on the Smartanalysis website. Login on their website and look in Help > Support > User Guides.

Possible Speed Limit Change

New Speed Limit 50mph The government are currently in consultation regarding increasing the speed limit on single carriageways for HGV’s over 7.5 tonnes from the current 40mph to 50mph matching the limit for HGV’s between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes.
» Read More Here

The consultation closes on 01st February 2013.
Watch this space for updates on the outcome.

New Euro “Smart Tachograph” … coming soon?

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : Euro Ministers have reached a political agreement on the new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport. The general idea and new draft legislation, which will replace the 1985 tachograph regulation, is aimed at making fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden by making full use of new technologies and introducing a number of new regulatory measures. As regards the use of technology, the current manual recording of the location of the vehicle will be replaced by automated recording through satellite positioning.

The “smart tachograph” will use new satellite-linked technology. It is hoped it will become mandatory probably in 2017 or 2018.

» Read more on EuroAlert.net

Digital Tachograph – Rules for drivers and operators

The UK.GOV website is a valuable resource for driving commercially in the UK. It that applies to you, you should visit this site frequently to keep yourself up-to-date on new rules and regulations that may affect your jobs or transport businesses.

This page : https://www.gov.uk/tachographs/overview is a good starting point for learning about Digital Tachograph usage and it’s legal rules. It includes PDF download guides and vital information on drivers hours, how to record them, store them and the smart analysis of tacho data.

GB Tachopak will be happy to advise you about reading digital tacho data and it’s smart analysis. We also have various digital devices for storing, reading and downloading Digital Tachograph data.

» UK Tachograph Users Blog