Over the past few months, our team have been working hard to prepare for the new Smart Tachograph version 2 due for release this summer. Any newly registered vehicle from 21 August 2023 must be fitted with a Smart Tachograph version 2 (Smart2). They will also need to be retrofitted to all vehicles involved in international transport by 21 August 2025^[1].

Smart2 will record the position and time of border-crossings and will require the driver to record load/unload operations as well as load type (goods/passenger). It will also increase the record storage from 28 to 56 days to allow for the changes to roadside enforcement of driving hours and rest periods. With the ability to connect via Bluetooth and providing improved security and robustness against GNSS jamming and spoofing attacks, there appear to be many benefits to these new tachographs.

Our team have been working with early prototypes to ensure that our existing products continue to work when used with the new tachographs. We are adjusting, re-writing and testing all firmware which is planned for release from April 2023, allowing plenty of time for the updates to take place before its release.

For existing customers, if your product currently supports Smart Tachograph (Gen 2) version 1, then it will also be compatible with Smart2 (once firmware has been updated).

Having been a manufacturer of tachograph related products since before the introduction of the digital tachograph in 2006, this is a process we are familiar with. Our products have seamlessly transitioned through the various generation and version changes as well as to accommodate amendments to legislation; requiring updates to our EU rules engine.

As a business, we pride ourselves on the longevity and durability of our products which has given us a trusted reputation across the industry. Not only that, but we made the decision early on that we wouldn’t charge for our firmware updates or take advantage of the opportunities to profiteer from such changes to the tachographs. This means that when you buy one of our products, future firmware updates will be available to you.

In order to access your downloaded tachograph files take a look at our products and then speak to your current analysis provider – see our resellers.

You can also use our industry standard Tachograph File Viewer – Standard Edition to see a display of card activities or vehicle unit data.

Alternatively, to see an analysis of your file using our EU rules engine you can purchase the
Tachograph File Viewer – Analysis Edition.

^{[1]European Commission Joint Research Centre}