VDO Provides a Digital Tachograph Solution for the Land Rover Defender
Birmingham, June 02, 2008
According to an EU regulation (561/2006), if a 4x4 vehicle, used for commercial purposes exceeds the Maximum Permitted Weight of 3.5 tonnes including a trailer and is registered after 1st May 2006, a digital tachograph must be fitted. VDO has developed digital tachograph retrofit kits for a number of manufacturers' vehicles, including Land Rover Defender.
A digital tachograph is an electronic system which records the driving, work and rest times for drivers. In addition the vehicle's speed, distance travelled and other parameters will also be recorded. The driver is subject to driving limits, breaks from driving and rest periods. Failure to do so carries a maximum fine of £2,500 for the breach of the Drivers' Hours Law and a maximum fine of £5,000 for failing to install and use a tachograph.
Due to these regulations many Land Rover Defender customers found that they could no longer tow on a commercial basis. Colin Wells of the Land Rover UK Product Team comments, "Thanks to the ingenuity and persistence of VDO, a unique digital tachograph solution was produced and approved for all affected Defender vehicles. The installation was delivered in a very short time frame and allowed our customers to continue their businesses unaffected."
VDO, the tachograph market leader, has a compliment of over 25 VOSA approved retrofit kits for vans and 4 x 4 vehicles including Kia Sorento, Mitsubishi L200, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Navara and Isuzu Rodeo. VDO supplies tachographs through a network of over two hundred VOSA approved distributors.
In order to drive a vehicle with a digital tachograph the driver must be in possession of a driver card, available from the DVLA which costs £38 and is valid for 5 years. The digital tachograph data and the driver card data must be downloaded regularly. In the UK, there is a mandatory requirement to download data from digital tachographs at least every 56 days and for the driver card to be downloaded at least every 28 days. The downloaded data must be available for inspection by VOSA and the Police. For the easy download of digital tachograph data, VDO offers a Download Starter Kit for just £195 + VAT.
To introduce drivers to the operation of digital tachographs, an interactive training CD is available for just £9.95 + VAT. Customers can obtain a free 4 x 4 guide to tachograph solutions by telephoning Continental Automotive on 0121 326 1162 or emailing uk@vdo.com
With annual sales of more than €25 billion (based on 2006 figures), the Continental Corporation is one of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. The corporation currently employs approximately 150,000 at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries.
