Some 131,000 lorries and 11,000 buses, the entire Spanish fleet engaged in international public transport, will be affected by this measure, approved in 2020 by the European Union.
The tachograph, which only has to be used in tow trucks in one particular case, is also being affected by digitalisation. In 2020 the European Union approved a Mobility Package which provides, among other things, for the replacement of analogue and digital devices with second-generation smart tachographs. International transport vehicles must do so between 2024 and 2025, and light vehicles from 2026, according to FENADISMER, the organisation representing SMEs engaged in road transport.
In August this year the regulation covering the new smart tachograph came into force. It will allow the position and work of professional drivers to be recorded more accurately, as provided for in the Mobility Package on the relocation of drivers in international transport (the sector regulation on the posting of workers), which also provides for new restrictions on cabotage operations, as well as other measures to guarantee fair competition.
From the mandatory digital tachograph to the smart tachograph
Thus, since 21 August, if a new transport vehicle is purchased, this type of tachograph must be installed; with exceptions, however, intended to address the lack of stock of new devices. The European regulations set a deadline (before the end of December 2024) for upgrading vehicles whose tachographs are of the previous generation, that is, prior to June 2019: both analogue and non-smart digital ones.
Those already fitted with a first-generation smart tachograph will have until August 2025 to install the second-generation device.
The total number of vehicles affected by this European regulation in Spain is more than 140,000, according to FENADISMER. This is the figure that makes up the public road transport fleet, both goods and passengers, engaged in international transport. Lorries or tractor units (131,000) and buses (11,000) that will have to adapt to this regulation within the deadlines mentioned.