Tachograph News – GB Tachopak Ltd: Blog

35 Years Service in Transport Stationery

136,500 minutes!

That is 35 years of 15 minute Walk Around Checks

GB TachoPak, the Premier Supplier of Transport Industry Stationery, have been with you, every step of the way.

Love it or loathe it, the 15 minute walk around check is a necessary part of a drivers life, and we have been supplying the stationery to make that job as pain free as possible, for you for 35 years.

35 years of experience, knowledge and expertise goes into revising and updating all of the stationery you need to keep your business growing and you compliant.

There a three different types of 15 minute walk around check pad:

1. The LGV Drivers Defect Report Pad

For all classes of HGV vehicle, keeping your vehicles and drivers safe. and compliant. You can order yours here >>

The PSV Drivers Defect Report Pad

For all classes of PSV vehicle, keeping your coaches, buses and drivers safe and compliant.

You can order yours here >>

The VAN Drivers Defect Report Pad.

If you have a van you need to be filling out one of these every day and/or new driver.

You can order your Van Defect Report Pads Here >>

When GB TachoPak started providing stationery for the transport industry, in 1980 there was:

The new Vauxhall Astra replaced the Vauxhall Viva
British Leyland sold MG Cars to Aston Martin Lagonda
Alton Towers opened
Inflation rose to 21.8%
John Lennon was shot dead in New York
The average wage was £6000 pa, a litre of petrol cost 28p, a pint of beer cost 35p a loaf of bread 33p

VehoCheck: Daily road worthiness inspections

VehoCheck provides an efficient, cost effective solution for company drivers to conduct their daily road worthiness inspections, record the outcomes and ensure compliance in line with the DVSA guidelines.The VehoCheck dashboard for the transport manager offers in depth real-time reporting down to a granular level of vehicle inspections, common defects and the regularity of checks.

Information can be recalled instantly to satisfy any roadside authority inspection or depot visit.

For more information >>

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.

Driver CPC needed to take vehicle for Annual Test

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VOSA and the DSA have announced that mechanics who are taking a vehicle for its annual test will require a Driver CPC. However, if only taking for a road test it will not be required.

This has come as a shock to the industry which had not been prepared to put mechanics though the required 35 hours of training.

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 (register).

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.

HGV licences only valid for five years from January 2013

The European Union Third Directive on driving licences came into force on January 19^th 2013. Vocational driving licences issued on or after 19^th January 2013 will be valid for a maximum of five years, irrespective of the age of the licence holder. Every five years up to age 45, vocational category holders will be required to sign a declaration to show they still meet the medical standards they met when the licence was first granted.

For existing drivers, the new rules will apply when they next renew their driving licence, or when they renew their lorry and/or bus entitlement, whichever is the earlier.

Keep your licence safe with a double card holder and lanyard available to purchase online or by telephone.

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

Virgo’s simulator introduction to tachographs

We were recently contacted by 13 year old Steve Virgo who describes himself as a ‘bus and coach enthusiast’ who’s hobbies include building a simulator dashboard. This immediately caught my attention and I was delighted to be able to help Steve with his request for some 125kph tachograph charts to use in his dashboard!

Steve has very kindly allowed me to show a video of his simulator in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlHZw60KkE8. I will be happy to pass any comments or gems of advice onto our young enthusiast!

Well done Steve!

Digital Tachograph Cards in Sweden

NEWS: The Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) has awarded a contract to Morpho (Safran) for the production of secure drivers’ licenses and digital tachograph cards that record the driving and rest times of truck and bus drivers.

The new licenses and tachograph cards integrate new security features to comply with current European Union standards. They also add extra protection against document fraud.

Sweden started issuing the licenses this past January. It will introduce the new digital tachograph cards later this year.

This is not Morpho’s first project with the Swedish government. It has also installed a criminal ID system that’s now being upgraded with new biometric technology

Tachograph Price & Order Form

GB Tachopak are pleased to announce the release of our new price list
valid from 1st February.
» Download and Print: (in PDF Format)

With the growing popularity and use of digital tachographs, we have reduced the price of some of our digital range including Digirolls which now start at just £4.20 for a pack of 3.

We are also delighted to have held the price for our most popular and traditional products: Analogue Tachograph Charts, Maintenance Pads and Defect Report Pads.

Please see our tachograph price list for our full range of products and new prices.

Easy Ways to Order Tachograph Products

Placing orders with GB Tachopak couldn’t be easier. You can place orders in many different ways. Regular customers may be eligible for a Credit Account, please contact us for advice.

Website: using SSL secure payments www.tachopak.co.uk
E-Mail: For existing account holders please e-mail your order to: sales @ tachopak.co.uk
Phone 01472 210102: Call our sale team.
Please have your credit card and order details ready.
Offline by Fax: 01472 210098

Print out and complete this order form/price list with your credit card details then fax your order to the above number. We despatch orders the same day if received before 3pm.

Prices exclude carriage and VAT | Orders over £50 are carriage free.

Personalised Products: For larger orders we are able to personalise many product lines with your company name, logo, etc. Please call for more details.

To place an order, please call our sales team on 01472 210102.

Smart Analysis: Free Android Apps for Smartphone

Smart Analysis of Tacho’ data gets smarter. According to “Transport Engineer” the Digital Tacho manufacturer, Stoneridge, have released two free Apps to assist transport operators and commercial drivers to monitor their driving. These apps are available to Android Smartphone users.

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Duo Mobile App can turn your smartphone into a second Duo display, providing a real-time overview of daily, weekly and monthly drive, break and rest times. Automatic countdowns to break or daily rest periods are aimed at helping drivers to plan their journeys ahead, and Stoneridge believes this facility will make fleets and drivers more efficient.

» Source
» GB Tachopak on Twitter / Facebook / Digital Tachograph Smart Analysis

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.

bnrSmartLicence

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.