Digital Tachograph Analysis: What UK Operators Need to Monitor

What is tachograph analysis?

Digital tachograph analysis is the systematic review of data taken from driver cards and vehicle units. You are checking whether the recorded activity meets the drivers’ hours rules that apply to that day, whether the record is complete, and whether working-time limits are under control where they apply.

GOV.UK’s tachograph rules (opens in a new tab) and operator responsibilities (opens in a new tab) say operators must periodically download digital and smart tachograph data and analyse it to ensure the rules have been complied with. The download is the evidence. The analysis is the management control.

Analysis is not the same as a roadside printout, and it is not the same as keeping a folder of unsigned letters. It is a named finding, linked to a driver or vehicle, compared with the job, and closed with a decision.

Why downloading data isn’t enough

A completed driver card download every 28 days, and a vehicle tachograph download every 90 days, meets the download timetable. It does not meet the analysis duty. Unopened files still leave the operator without a system that finds breaches and stops them repeating.

The goods vehicle operator licensing guide (opens in a new tab) expects drivers’ hours records to be kept and inspected. A traffic commissioner can ask how you find infringements, who reviews them, and what changed afterwards. “We download on time” answers only half of that question.

Driver card data

The driver card holds the driver’s activity: driving, other work, availability and rest, plus card insertions and manual entries. A regular driver card download is how you pull that history into the operator’s system before the card overwrites older days.

GOV.UK’s operator responsibilities (opens in a new tab) require a download at least every 28 calendar days, and earlier when the driver leaves, the card is damaged, or data may be lost. Agency drivers are included when they work for you. The card is the driver’s record; the operator still has to obtain and analyse it.

When you analyse card data, you are looking for hours breaches, unexplained gaps, missing manual entries, and days that do not match the planned work. Previous cards matter when a driver has replaced a lost or expired card mid-period: the new download alone does not reconstruct the old card’s history.

Vehicle unit data

The vehicle unit (VU) records what happened on that vehicle: card sessions, odometer, activity while a card was present, and events such as driving without a card or faults. A vehicle tachograph download is how you cross-check the fleet against driver cards.

Operators must download VU data at least every 90 calendar days, and earlier before transferring control of the vehicle, when the unit is removed, when it malfunctions, or when data may be erased. The VU holds a limited history; waiting until memory overwrites older days loses evidence you cannot recover.

VU analysis catches problems the card alone may miss: mileage with no card, overspeeding events on the unit, and sessions that never matched a driver record. Card and VU files belong together in the same month’s review.

Download deadlines

Under GOV.UK operator responsibilities (opens in a new tab), the ordinary legal minima are clear: driver cards at least every 28 calendar days; vehicle units at least every 90 calendar days. Those are calendar days, not working days. Earlier downloads are required in the triggers above, and “as often as necessary” so that no data is lost.

Many operators download more often as procedure, especially on multi-driver vehicles or long agency weeks. That is operator procedure, not a second statute. What matters for compliance is that every period is both downloaded and analysed before the next window closes.

Drivers’ hours

Drivers’ hours analysis applies the correct ruleset to the downloaded activity: assimilated (often still called EU) limits for most in-scope HGV work, AETR where that journey applies, or GB domestic where an exemption or derogation puts the day there. Mixing the columns invents breaches that do not exist and misses ones that do.

The limits themselves are covered in HGV drivers’ hours rules. In analysis you are asking: was continuous, daily, weekly or fortnightly driving over the limit? Were breaks taken in time and in the right split order? Was daily and weekly rest adequate, including reduced weekly rest compensation?

Keep the ruleset visible on the finding. An assimilated break infringement on a domestic day is a scoring error, not a driver failure. Fix the ruleset before you write the letter.

Infringements

An infringement is a named breach the analysis produces against the ruleset you applied. Detection is the start of the transport manager’s job, not the end. Tachograph infringements explained covers driving, breaks, rest, missing data and what to do next. This page only locks the monitoring habit: find it, investigate it, close it, and look for the same rule again.

A signature on a letter shows the driver was told. It does not show the schedule changed or the briefing worked. Keep the finding with the explanation and the action for at least as long as the hours record it belongs to.

Missing mileage and missing days

Missing mileage on a vehicle unit is odometer movement that is not explained by a card session. It can mean driving without a card, a card withdrawn mid-journey, or a download gap. Until someone names the cause, it is only a gap in the record.

Missing days on a driver card are periods with no activity where you expected work, or blank stretches that were never closed with a manual entry. Rest, leave, a vehicle off the road, and a card left in another cab all look empty until you check the roster.

Treat gaps as findings. Close each one with an explanation or a further download. Leaving “unknown” open for weeks is the same risk as ignoring an infringement letter.

Manual entries

Where the driver did other work, or drove a vehicle out of scope, the assimilated rules require that activity to be recorded. On a digital tachograph that is a manual entry. Analysis should check that entries exist where the card was out, and that they match the job.

Operators also record non-drive days in their own systems when a driver was in the office, yard or training and no .ddd covers the day. That is operator procedure to keep the calendar honest. A later driver card download for the same date should replace a temporary manual day, not sit beside a conflicting story.

Unknown driver and card issues

Driving without a card, a card withdrawn while the vehicle moves, and unmatched uploads are card-control findings. They sit beside hours limits: even a legal hours day can still be a record failure if the wrong card, or no card, was used.

Unmatched files appear when the download tool names a card or vehicle the operator system does not yet recognise. Link the file to the right driver or registration before you treat the period as analysed. Removing workshop or calibration cards from the driver list is part of keeping the register clean.

Lost, stolen or damaged cards need the GOV.UK printout process while a replacement is obtained, then a full download of the new card and any recoverable old data. Analysis should follow that paperwork, not assume the blank week was rest.

Working time

Working time is a separate regime from drivers’ hours. Under the road transport working-time rules, overall work, breaks from work, night work and weekly averages matter. A driver can be inside the driving limit and outside working time.

GOV.UK’s working time annex (opens in a new tab) and the licensing guide keep the retention periods apart: drivers’ hours records at least 12 months; working-time records at least 24 months. Analyse working time on its own report or filter. Do not bury it inside an hours infringement letter without saying which regime failed.

GB domestic hours days are not scored against Road Transport WTD in the same way as assimilated work. Confirm which regime applied before you treat a working-time finding as closed. HGV drivers’ hours rules keeps the three regimes apart.

Trends and repeat problems

One infringement can be a mistake. The same rule next month is a system. Count by rule and by driver: three drivers with a wrong break split is a briefing problem; one driver with short daily rest three times is a scheduling problem.

Writing “monitor” is not an action. Record who, which rule, how many times, what changed, and the date you will look again. That review belongs in the wider monthly compliance checklist. Software can list this month’s findings. Spotting the repeat pattern across months is still the transport manager’s procedure.

What should a transport manager review?

A practical monthly review covers downloads, hours findings, working time, gaps and follow-up. Use the same order every month so nothing depends on memory.

What to keep, and for how long, sits in what records a transport manager should keep.

Manual vs software analysis

You can analyse by reading printouts and charts. That still works for a very small fleet if every file is opened and the same questions are asked. It fails when .ddd files sit in a folder and the only output is a pile of letters nobody compares with last month.

Tachograph analysis software and HGV tachograph software apply a chosen ruleset to the files you upload, keep findings next to the driver or vehicle, and make overdue downloads visible. You still choose the ruleset, investigate mode errors, and decide the action. Software does not make the finding legally definitive on its own.

Most UK digital workflows centre on .ddd exports from the download tool. Other extensions are common in other markets; if your tool only accepts .ddd, export first, then analyse. Remote company-card download and telematics-fed tacho files are separate products. Do not assume every fleet system includes them.

FleetPro Tacho Analysis

FleetPro Tacho Analysis is built around uploaded .ddd files, calendars, reports and infringement letters. It is included in Complete, available as an add-on on Core and Compliance, or as FleetPro Tacho. It is not in Checks.

The overview shows infringement counts and overdue downloads using earlier warning bands (cards 7/21 days; VUs 14/30 days). Reports cover driver infringements, working time, missing mileage, missing days, last readings, overspeeds, driving without a card and infringement letters. Letters can be printed, signed in the driver app, or stored as a wet-ink scan. A manager can sign a report off. Signed findings stay out of the next report unless you include them again. You can enter a manual non-drive day until a .ddd for the same date supersedes it.

FleetPro does not remotely download cards or vehicle units, and it does not ingest tacho files from telematics. Tracking and tacho analysis are separate. It does not email you for every new infringement; the driver-facing step is the letter and sign-off. Package detail is on pricing and tachograph compliance.

Monthly tacho checklist

Tick a line when you have looked at the evidence, not when the software has a menu for it.

Questions operators ask

What is tachograph analysis?

The review of driver card and vehicle unit downloads against drivers’ hours and, where it applies, working time, including gaps and card use. Download alone is not analysis.

How often must I download driver cards and vehicle units?

At least every 28 calendar days for driver cards and every 90 calendar days for vehicle units, and earlier when GOV.UK lists a trigger such as leaving employment, transfer of the vehicle, or risk of data loss.

Is downloading enough for DVSA or a traffic commissioner?

No. GOV.UK expects the data to be analysed as well. You need a system that finds breaches, deals with them, and shows follow-up.

What file type do most UK analysis tools use?

Many systems, including FleetPro, analyse .ddd exports from the download tool. Export to .ddd first if your reader produces another extension.

Do I need both card and vehicle unit downloads?

Yes for a complete picture. Cards show the driver’s activity; vehicle units show what happened on that vehicle, including cardless mileage and unit events.

Is working time part of tachograph analysis?

It is a separate regime, but the same digital record often feeds both. Keep working-time findings labelled separately and retain them for at least 24 months.

Can software replace the transport manager’s review?

No. Software applies rules to files and surfaces findings. Investigation, briefing and scheduling changes remain the operator’s duty.

You can open a trial and see tachograph analysis where the package includes it. No card is taken at the start. When the trial ends, features lock until you speak with us. Start at organisation setup. Package differences are on pricing.

Official sources

The duties and periods on this page are taken from these GOV.UK guides.

Tachograph rules for goods vehicles (opens in a new tab). Responsibilities of vehicle operators (opens in a new tab). Assimilated and AETR drivers’ hours (opens in a new tab). Working time rules (opens in a new tab). Goods vehicle operator licensing guide (opens in a new tab).