Continental has obtained approval for the VDO DTCO® 4.1 tachograph from KBA – the German Federal Motor Transport Authority. This version of the smart tachograph, indicated in the European Mobility Package I, introduces new and partially modified functions and provides reliable data for more efficient controls in the international transport of goods.
“We are pleased that the second version of our smart tachograph has received all the necessary safety certifications and type approvals, in time for the launch on the target market,” says Dirk Gandras, Head of Tachograph Development in the Connected Commercial business segment Vehicle Solutions.
“This means that there are no impediments to deliver the second version of the smart tachograph before 21 August 2023, the scheduled launch date for all newly registered commercial vehicles.”
Better working conditions, equal conditions of competition and greater safety on the roads are the objectives of Mobility Package I, the regulations of which were subsequently implemented. The Mobility Package I not only modifies the rest periods, but mainly regulates the obligations to provide documentation of cabotage and posting of drivers.
The second version of the smart tachograph will now allow these regulations to be monitored and enforced. In the history of the tachograph, this is the first time that legislators have assigned additional control functions to the tachograph, which go far beyond the recording of working and operating times.
As required by the Implementing Regulation (EU 2021/1228), starting from 21 August 2023, newly registered commercial vehicles with a gross weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes will have to be equipped with second version smart tachographs.
By August 2025, already registered vehicles engaged in international transport will also have to undergo the replacement in two stages. The novelty is that commercial vehicles with a total weight of 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes engaged in international transport will also have to be equipped with a tachograph from July 2026. Continental recommends carrying out the update during the statutory tachograph checks, in order to reduce vehicle downtime in workshops.