Tachograph Manual Entries and the Mode Switch: Recording a Shift Correctly

Ask a transport manager what their drivers' most common infringement is and they will say a missed break or a long day. Ask the analysis software and it will usually say something duller: unknown periods, missing manual entries, other work that should have been rest. The card and the day disagree, and the card is the one the examiner reads. This guide is about making them agree.

Why the card and the day disagree

A digital tachograph records activity only while a card is inserted, and only the activity the mode switch is set to. Two things happen outside that window. Before the card goes in, drivers do things that count as work: the daily check, coupling a trailer, collecting keys and paperwork. After the card comes out, the rest of the previous day happened. Neither is recorded unless the driver tells the unit about it, and the unit only asks once, at insertion. That is what a manual entry is for.

The manual entry wizard, step by step

1. Insert the card. The unit reads it and shows the time the card was last withdrawn, in local time on the display, stored as UTC on the card.
2. It asks whether to add activities. On a VDO it is the "M" entry prompt; on a Stoneridge the manual entries screen. Say yes. Saying no is what produces the question marks.
3. Enter the end of the last shift. Usually rest from the withdrawal time until the end of that day, or until today's start. If you did other work after pulling the card, enter that first, then rest.
4. Enter today's activities before insertion. Other work from the time you started, typically fifteen to thirty minutes for the walk-round check and paperwork. If you have been waiting for a known period, availability.
5. Check the summary and confirm. Most units show the entries as a list before writing them. Read it. Cancelling and starting again is allowed; amending after confirmation is not.
6. Enter the start country where the unit asks for it, then set the mode to whatever you are doing now.

The whole sequence takes under a minute. Two rules for the times: use the times you actually started, not round numbers, because a fleet of drivers who all did exactly 15 minutes of checks is a fleet nobody believes; and never enter rest for time you were working, however short.

What goes in a manual entry, and what does not

Enter as other work: the daily walk-round check, defect reporting, coupling and uncoupling, loading or strapping done before the card went in, collecting paperwork, refuelling, a briefing, and driving an exempt vehicle for the employer.

Enter as availability: waiting whose length you knew in advance and during which you were free to leave the workstation, such as a booked slot at an RDC.

Enter as rest: the time between the end of the last shift and the start of this one, and nothing else.

Do not: enter driving, which the unit will not accept by hand; enter rest for a period you spent working "to keep it simple"; or leave the previous shift's end as unknown because you cannot remember. If you cannot remember, make a printout, write your best account on the back and sign it.

The mode switch during the day

Once the card is in, the unit sets driving automatically whenever the vehicle moves. Everything else is the driver's job, using the activity button for their slot:

• Stopping to load or unload: crossed hammers. On most units this is what the slot defaults to when the vehicle stops, so no action is needed, but check the display.
• Taking a break: the bed. Every time, before the engine is switched off if possible. A break left on crossed hammers is other work, the 4.5-hour driving clock keeps running, and the next spell of driving is an infringement.
• Waiting for a known period: the square with the diagonal, availability. If you do not know how long the wait will be, it is other work.
• End of shift: the bed, then withdraw the card. Withdrawing on crossed hammers records the shift as ending in work and leaves tomorrow's manual entry to sort it out.

The full set of symbols, including the ones for faults and events, is in our tachograph symbols guide.

Two drivers in the cab

With multi-manning, the second driver's card goes in slot 2. While the vehicle moves, slot 2 records availability automatically. When the drivers swap, they swap cards between slots; the unit handles the change. Both drivers make their own manual entries at insertion, and the co-driver's pre-shift work is entered against their own card, not the driver's.

Start and end country, and border crossings

On first-generation digital and Smart 1 units the driver enters the country where the daily work period starts and ends. Since February 2022 the driver must also record each border crossing by stopping at the nearest possible place after the border and entering the new country. A Smart 2 records border crossings automatically from its position, and most units still prompt for the start and end country at insertion and withdrawal. Missing country entries are a minor infringement individually and a pattern that cabotage checks pick up quickly.

The ferry and train procedure

If a daily rest or reduced weekly rest is taken while accompanying the vehicle on a ferry or train, select the ferry and train symbol before the interruption. The rest may then be interrupted up to twice, by no more than one hour in total, for boarding and disembarking, provided the driver has access to a bunk or couchette. Without the symbol the unit records the movement as breaking the rest.

Driving when the card is not available

If the card is lost, stolen, damaged or not working, the driver can continue for up to 15 calendar days using printouts: one at the start of the day and one at the end, with the driver's name, licence or card number and signature, and manual activities written on by hand. The full procedure, including the seven-day replacement rule, is in lost, stolen or damaged tacho card: what to do.

What the office should check each week

• Unknown periods. Any question mark on a card is time nobody has accounted for. Ask about it the same week, while the driver remembers.
• Shifts that start with driving. A driver whose first activity is driving at 06:00 either did no walk-round check or did not record it. Both are problems; only one is fixable with a conversation.
• Other work where the schedule says break. A 45-minute stop at a services recorded as crossed hammers is almost always a missed mode switch, and it is an infringement regardless.
• Availability patterns. Long POA at sites with no waiting arrangements, or POA every day at exactly the same length, needs a second look.
• Country entries. Missing start or end countries on international drivers.

All of this depends on the card data reaching the office. A remote tachograph download collects driver card and vehicle unit files on schedule without anyone visiting the cab, and the analysis lists the unknown periods and mode-switch errors by driver. Live driver hours go further, showing the office what mode each driver is in right now, so a break that has not been selected can be pointed out before it costs anything.

Five habits that keep the card honest

1. Card in first, before the walk-round check, so there is less to enter by hand.
2. Bed before the engine is off, every break, every time.
3. Read the manual entry summary before confirming it.
4. Printout and a signed note for anything you could not enter.
5. Card out on rest, never on work.

Frequently asked questions

Can you edit a tachograph manual entry?

Not after it has been confirmed. You can cancel and restart the wizard before confirming. Afterwards, the only remedy is a printout with a handwritten, signed explanation, kept with the driver's records.

What if I forgot to make a manual entry?

The period since the last withdrawal is recorded as unknown activity. Make a daily printout, write what you were actually doing and when on it, sign it, and hand it to your employer with your other records. Then make the entry next time.

What counts as other work?

Any work for the employer that is not driving: vehicle checks, loading and unloading, coupling, paperwork, refuelling, cleaning, training, waiting of unknown length, and driving a vehicle that is out of scope.

Should I select rest or availability when waiting?

Rest only if you are genuinely free to do as you please for the period. Availability if you knew the wait and its likely length in advance and are not required to stay at the workstation. Other work if you did not know how long it would be or had to stay with the vehicle.

Does the co-driver need to make manual entries?

Yes. Each card records its own holder's activities, so the co-driver enters their own pre-shift work and previous rest at insertion, exactly as the driver does.