Tachograph Security And Tempering

Tachographs are important pieces of equipment to monitor the driver’s speed, working hours and work breaks. Tachographs also serve as evidence against different fleets and drivers for violation of rules and regulations. It is, therefore, important to ensure the safety and performance accuracy of a digital or analogue tachograph at all times. In order to ensure the accurate performance of a tachograph, different measures are taken by the tachograph manufacturing companies and fitters in the UK but still some common modes of tempering, with tachograph entries, are used by vehicle companies and drivers.

Ghosting

One of the most common methods of tachographs tempering is “Ghosting”. In a competitive market, every UK based company is forced to utilise its resources with maximum possible efficiency. Logistics companies in the UK especially practice ghosting to improve their throughputs. Let’s assume a situation where the total duration of a journey is 10 hours. A single driver cannot cover this journey in one shift according to the UK legislation. In case of ghosting, the first driver will meet a second driver with a second vehicle at a centre point. The first driver will take the second vehicle to another location by inserting a new tachograph chart in the second vehicle acting as the third driver while the second driver will take the first vehicle to its destination with a new chart acting as the fourth driver.

In the above mentioned case, the legislative authority will get the perception of four drivers with different tachograph charts whereas in reality there are only two drivers. Hence the company will succeed in obtaining maximum profits from least resources. To stop this from happening, digital tachographs are used which limit this problem with the use of smart cards. Smart cards are linked with driver identities and hence unique drivers are required to operate different cards.

Sensor Tempering

All digital tachographs operate on a signal from the gear box. Sensor’s screws are loosened up to 2 mm which ceases the signal to tachograph. The fitters and installation companies are bribed to wrap the sensor wires anticlockwise rather than clockwise so that when the sensor is unscrewed, the wires don’t break. The tachograph then shows a work break time over the period of ceased signal.

False Switch

Tachograph input cables can be tempered to adjust a false switch between the sensor and the tachograph. A false senor is placed at the other side of the switch which generates a false signal of activity or inactivity based on the preference. This kind of tempering can be caught easily in case of a thorough vehicle checking by the authorities.

Fuse Replacement

Another method tempering can be to insert a blown fuse into the tachograph instead of a functional fuse. This can serve as a valid excuse for drivers and they can act innocent.

Tachograph Header Tempering

Tachograph headers contain fragile instruments like potentiometers or switches to calculate the radius of road wheels. If the radius is set to 90% of the actual radius, over speeding will not be detectable. Some persons temper with the instrument’s calibration by breaking the seal as well.