In 2023, Continental is celebrating 100 years since the father of the VDO tachograph, Dr. Herbert Kienzle, invented the first device capable of recording both the driving and rest times of a vehicle on a special diagram disc.
At the same time, however, the arrival on the first commercial vehicles of the new DTCO 4.1, the second version of the intelligent tachograph, is also being celebrated, just in time for the deadline of 21 August 2023. This change will be the protagonist of a three-year mandatory update and retrofit campaign, such as foreseen by the Mobility Package I of the EU.
“Hardly any other instrument, present in the passenger compartment of commercial vehicles, has been able to radically change daily life on European roads as the tachograph.
It has made competition in transport logistics fairer, working conditions for drivers safer and fleet management ever more efficient,” says Ismail Dagli, Head of the Smart Mobility Business Unit at Continental. “We are very proud to be able to continue this tradition at our site in Villingen with the DTCO 4.1 and successor models.”
Finally, in 2023, the data collected will no longer be limited to speed, driving and rest times and distance travelled, but will be a treasure trove of data from a wide variety of vehicle areas which, with the right services, they will provide real added value for efficiency, security and compliance.