Latest news, guides and updates for professional HGV drivers.
Driving regulations
Not every goods movement sits inside full assimilated tachograph rules. Exemptions exist — but they are narrow, technical and operator-led. This is a driver overview, not a licence to switch the unit to Out of Scope on instinct.
Tachograph and compliance
An attestation of activities covers periods when you were working or resting away from the vehicle and the tachograph alone cannot tell the story. Use it when your operator’s procedure and the rules require that paper trail.
Tachograph and compliance
Wrong mode selection is one of the fastest ways to fail a DVSA analysis. Know what Driving, Other Work, Availability, Break/Rest and Out of Scope are for — and stop using “whatever is convenient”.
Tachograph and compliance
If your driver card is lost, stolen or unusable, you do not simply “drive without it and explain later”. Report it, apply for a replacement, and use only the temporary recording methods the rules allow.
Tachograph and compliance
Article 12 is a specific, limited driving-time extension tool. “Unforeseen events” language is not a blank cheque to finish the job. Know the difference before you write a reason on the printout.
Tachograph and compliance
Newer smart tachographs can record border crossings automatically via GNSS — but drivers still need clean start/end country habits and must not assume the unit fixes every mistake.
Driving regulations
Driver CPC is not a one-off test forever. Keep your periodic training current and carry the proof you are supposed to have — usually an attested copy — when you drive for a living.
Road safety
Holding a phone to use it while driving is illegal. That includes scrolling, unlocking, filming and many ‘just two seconds’ habits — even in slow traffic with the engine on.
Driving regulations
Heavier goods vehicles do not use car speed limits. Know the usual figures for England & Wales and Scotland — and treat the limiter as a ceiling, not a cruise target in every condition.
Road safety
If the load shifts, you are the one in the cab. Basic securing checks before you move — and when to say no — matter as much as knowing the strap theory by heart.
Road safety
A walkaround is not a formality for the clipboard. It is how you catch illegal tyres, lights, leaks and insecure loads before DVSA — or a crash — finds them for you.
Driving regulations
Some weeks are not pure tachograph work. If you mix assimilated-scope driving with domestic-scope driving, you cannot pretend only one rulebook existed. Here is the high-level idea.
Tachograph and compliance
At the roadside you need more than “the office has the downloads”. Know what your card holds, when printouts matter, and what you must be able to show from recent duties.
Tachograph and compliance
The tachograph does not magically know what you did away from the vehicle. Manual entries close those gaps — especially after ferry/train, vehicle swaps, card-out periods and faults.
Driving regulations
Drivers’ hours limit driving and rest. Working time separately caps work at 60 hours in a week and 48 hours on average over 17 (or 26) weeks. Here is that pair — not the night 10-hour rule.
Driving regulations
Not every goods journey uses the same hour rules. Most tachograph HGV work is assimilated rules; some exempt operations fall under domestic limits instead. Here is the difference at driver level.