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The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has hit out at digital tachographs, saying they can over-record driver time by up to three hours per week.

Figures show that, for a driver with a stop-start orientated driving week, digitachs will record more time than an analogue one. This is because the digital tachograph rounds figures up to the nearest minute, rather than recording them in seconds.

A VOSA spokesman says: “Where driving has taken place in the minutes either side of a single minute  in which no driving has occurred, then that minute will also be deemed to be driving activity time. The concern is that the driver has a reduced amount of ‘real time’ to complete his journeys.

“We are looking at the issue with the RHA and will comment further once we have had an opportunity to look at the data.”

Head of policy at the RHA Jack Semple adds: “It will affect those the most who are already working at the limit. It is accepted in Brussels that this is a serious issue.”

Denmark has voiced concerns as well as France, which has taken the bold step of asking for the option of analogue tachographs in new trucks until this issue is resolved.

The Freight Transport Association seems  slightly less concerned, with FTA external affairs director Geoff Dossetter stating: “There is no doubt there will be some losers in this situation.”

It is not sheer coincidence that the digitachs 'round up'; it is in their specification. The report from the European Commission states that, while the device must measure time accurately, it only has to record it to the nearest minute. No explanation has yet been obtainable, though one possibility could be that at the time of their proposal data storage may have been an issue.

The document reads:

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1360/2002, of 13 June 2002

Adapting for the seventh time to technical progress Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport.

- Time drift shall be within ± 2 seconds per day in type approval conditions.

- Time measured shall have a resolution better than or equal to 1 second.

…yet:

- Times are recorded with a resolution of one minute, unless otherwise specified.

The same goes for distance recording:

- Odometer values are recorded with a resolution of one kilometre.

Lawyer Stephen Kirkbright from Ford & Warren solicitors says that there could be legal issues: “Digital tachographs are clearly challengeable in court. The law states that the recorded time is driving time, which is presumed to be correct – yet it is not accurate.

“It is not acceptable for the figures to be rounded up – it could mean the difference between being legal or illegal.”