Tachographs...

My bro-in-law kindly pointed out to me that using my business owned 110 to tow my business owned trailer, full of business stuff means i need a tacho :doh: I'd kinda not thought about that.

Question is, if I have a tacho and then I am using my buisness owned 110, to tow my business owned trailer - full of personal use stuff only, and, i have a tacho fitted to the 110, should the tacho be on or off?
and day to day driving with no trailer?
or is it a case that tachos are always on?

I haven't got a clue, i don't even know what they record - other than amount of time driving - urrgg, which also means, if it has to be used all the time and my wife use's the 110 does she need her own tacho card? and what happens if it is always on and I am on a personal journey and do 15 hours solid then get pulled by the police...?

Maybe I should just sell the trailer :doh:

Tachos are always on. And they work even without a card in. If doing personal stuff in your landy you can do it for as long as you want. The second its for hire or reward it becomes (highly) regulated. They are trouble. Do you travel far from your business base when towing?

goonarmy said:

Tachos are always on. And they work even without a card in. If doing personal stuff in your landy you can do it for as long as you want. The second its for hire or reward it becomes (highly) regulated. They are trouble. Do you travel far from your business base when towing?

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I will only use it for business stuff maybe 4 times a year, and only for raw goods, not finished products, however, those 4 times a year will involve a 150 --> 200 mile round trip - so sadly not within the 50km grace area for farmers.

So, if using landy for personal use, been driving 15 hours, towing a trailer and then have an accident, can the evidence from the tacho be used in a court of law as it was personal so the tacho is irrelevant? (hypothetical question)


Are tachos expensive?

Dunno how much they cost(guessing not cheap) as they come from shb to us fitted. They do need regular calibrations though(probbably not cheap) and the cards are 38 quid(yer missus wont need one if shes not business related-saying for hire or reward seemed rude) then rolls of paper for it too. The out of scope range is not just for farmers. And as for your hypothetical question-dunno, probbably cos they will get you for what they can.

Bugger

Anyone want to buy a Brian James flat bed trailer, with sides and ramps? :/

(Only condition is you must be local to me and lend it back to me whenever i want it for personal usage )

Don't forget yer 'Business Use' insurance either.

Chrisw8 said:

Don't forget yer 'Business Use' insurance either.

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Yeah i'm good on that thank you, (given the vehicle is insured in the business name, it kinda can't not have business insurance on it!)

Bump said:

Bugger

Anyone want to buy a Brian James flat bed trailer, with sides and ramps? :/

(Only condition is you must be local to me and lend it back to me whenever i want it for personal usage )

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Give you a fiver for it. I am local to me and will let any one borrow it too

Also if you use a business owned vehicle to pull a business owned trailer i am preeeeety sure you need a operators licence and a CPC certificate unless that only applies to a fleet.

Correct me if i'm wrong. :blabla: :blabla:

It all depends upon the combined weight of the Landy + Trailer + load. I cant recall the exact weights but give VOSA or what ever they are called now a quick call and they wil confirm it all for you.

Trust me that's the best way because they keep moving the goal posts on it. I can tell you what your hours are etc if you want to PM me as I have to keep on top of them in my artic!

There's lots of information here https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...rs-hours-and-tachographs-goods-vehicles-in-gb

I was always under the impression that if you have a digi tacho fitted all drivers must be able to produce a card whether it's used for towing or not. But only need to put it in when towing for business use.

Kizzeh said:

I was always under the impression that if you have a digi tacho fitted all drivers must be able to produce a card whether it's used for towing or not. But only need to put it in when towing for business use.

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But that would mean every driver on a firm would need one even if they dont have the qualification to use them

Maybe I said that wrong. I ment any driver of the vehicle must be able to provide a digi card.
I did get told this last time I spoke to vosa but to be fair he did have his head quite far up his arse.....

If a vehicle is used for business use then it must have a tachometer if it can tow or is over 3.5 tonnes, tachometer only needs to be used in a lr when towing but not for standalone use (just driving the defender) so the 4 times you tow you will need a tacho

Kizzeh said:

Maybe I said that wrong. I ment any driver of the vehicle must be able to provide a digi card.
I did get told this last time I spoke to vosa but to be fair he did have his head quite far up his arse.....

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Thought that was a prerequiste for the job!
I regularly drive vehicles with tachos but have no reason or liscence that requires a card so thats a bit worrying.

Just out of curiosity, when do you need a tacho?

If you are using a vehicle for buisness use over 3.5t.
Or if you have a trailer and the combination MAM is over 3.5t. So theoretically, you can drive a landy for buisness but as soon as you have a trailer on the back, even if it's empty you need a tacho.
There are expeditions: hgv mechanics taking vehicle for road test, farmers and builders etc where their MAIN job isn't driving and as long as they are within a radius of their base. It all depends if you are doing it for "hire or reward"


Don't take my word for the ins an outs of the law, I am only going of memory but there is a lot of info on the internet.