Tachograph Symbols Explained: Every Icon on a Digital Tacho and What It Means

Every digital tachograph in Europe uses the same set of pictograms. They were fixed by the technical annex to the tachograph regulation so that a Polish examiner and a DVSA officer at a lay-by on the A14 read a printout the same way. That is also why they look like they were drawn in 1998: they were.

The practical problem is that drivers learn four of them during their Driver CPC and meet the rest for the first time on a roadside printout. This guide goes through the full set, what each one records, and which ones turn into the infringements that operators end up explaining at an audit.

Why the symbols matter more than they look

A tachograph does not record what a driver did. It records which symbol was selected while they did it. If a driver takes a 45-minute break in a services car park with the mode switch still on crossed hammers, the unit has recorded 45 minutes of other work. There was no break, the 4.5-hour driving clock keeps running, and the next stretch of driving is an infringement that neither the driver nor the transport office intended.

The driving hours limits are calculated entirely from these records. So are the Working Time Directive figures. The symbols are the evidence, and the evidence is whatever was selected.

The four activity symbols in detail

Driving (steering wheel)

Set automatically by the motion sensor. On a digital unit it starts within a few seconds of the wheels turning and ends when the vehicle stops. The driver cannot override it, which is why the driving figure on a printout is the one nobody argues with.

What happens next is the part to know. When the vehicle stops, most units switch the slot to other work by default, not to rest. A VDO unit does this out of the box; a Stoneridge can be set either way by the workshop. Either way, the moment the vehicle stops the clock is running against the driver unless they pick something else.

Other work (crossed hammers)

All working time that is not driving: the daily walk-round check, waiting to be loaded when you did not know how long it would take, strapping, tail-lift work, filling in a defect sheet, a training session, or driving a vehicle that is out of scope. It counts towards the working day for the WTD and towards the duty limits under GB domestic rules, and it does not count as a break under any rule.

Availability (square with a diagonal line)

The most misused symbol on the fleet. A period of availability is time when the driver is not working and not required to stay at the workstation, but has to be available to resume work, and crucially knew about the period and its likely duration in advance. Sitting in the cab at an RDC after being told "you are on bay 12 at 14:00, it is 12:30 now" is POA. Sitting in the same cab having been told "we will call you" is other work, because the driver does not know how long it will be.

POA is excluded from working time under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations, which is exactly why examiners look hard at it. A driver whose card shows six hours of POA in a day at a depot that has no waiting area is going to be asked some questions.

Break or rest (bed)

Time the driver can spend freely. A break during the working day and the daily or weekly rest at the end of it use the same symbol; the tachograph works out which is which from the length. It must be selected by hand, and a break that was not selected did not happen as far as the record is concerned.

At the end of a shift, drivers should set the bed before withdrawing the card. If the card is pulled while the slot is still on other work, the unit records the withdrawal but the next insertion will ask what the driver was doing in between. That question is the manual entry screen, and it is the source of more gaps than anything else.

Card and slot symbols

• Card with a number 1 or 2 — the slot. Slot 1 is the driver; slot 2 is the co-driver or second crew member. A card in slot 2 is recorded as availability while the vehicle is moving, not driving.
• Card icon on its own — a card is inserted and being read, or the unit is asking for one. Driving with no card inserted is itself an event, and one of the most serious.
• Card with an exclamation mark — a card problem: unreadable, expired, locked, or a conflict between the card and the unit. Do not ignore it; a card that has quietly stopped recording produces a week of unknown activity.
• Card with a clock or hourglass — on many units, the card is about to expire. The renewal has to be applied for at least 15 working days before the date on the card.
• M — a manual entry. It marks activity the driver added by hand for a period when the card was not in a unit, such as other work done before starting the vehicle. Manual entries are legitimate and expected; a card with none at all on a driver who does yard work every morning is the suspicious case.

OUT, the ferry symbol and the question mark

OUT: out of scope

Selecting OUT tells the unit that the current driving is outside the EU rules. It is correct when the vehicle is being used in an exempt way, for example under the GB domestic rules, on a private journey, or for a test drive at a workshop. It is not a way of hiding driving. The unit still records that the vehicle moved, when, and for how long, and an examiner who sees OUT used on a Tuesday afternoon delivery run will treat it as a false record.

Ferry and train (boat and train pictogram)

Used when the driver is taking a daily rest or a reduced weekly rest while accompanying the vehicle on a ferry or train. The rest may 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. Select the symbol before the interruption; it tells the unit not to treat the movement as a broken rest. Since the 2020 changes to the rules it can also be used for a regular weekly rest where the crossing is scheduled to last eight hours or more and a sleeper cabin is available.

? : unknown activity

The question mark marks time the unit has no record for: usually the gap between one card withdrawal and the next insertion when the driver did not complete a manual entry. It is not an infringement in itself, but it is unaccounted-for time, and examiners assume the least favourable explanation. A pattern of question marks at the start of every shift means the driver is not entering their pre-driving other work, which usually means the daily walk-round is not being recorded either.

Warning and fault symbols

• Exclamation mark (!) — an event. Driving without a valid card, a card inserted while driving, a power supply interruption, a motion data error, a time overlap between two units, over-speeding for more than a minute. Events are stored in the vehicle unit and come out on a download; the most serious ones are what remote-download analysis flags first.
• Cross (x) — a fault. Card fault, sensor fault, printer fault, download-interface fault, internal fault. A fault that persists means the unit needs a workshop, and a vehicle unit with a logged sensor fault is exactly what an examiner will want to see the calibration plaque for.
• Exclamation mark with a clock — a time conflict, typically a card whose last recorded activity is later than the unit's clock. Often the unit's time is wrong, which is a calibration matter if the drift exceeds 20 minutes.
• Speed symbol with an exclamation mark — over-speed event. The unit records when the set limit is exceeded for more than 60 seconds.
• Satellite or globe — on smart tachographs, the GNSS receiver: position recording, and on Smart 2 units the authenticated (OSNMA) signal. A crossed-out satellite means no fix, which the unit also logs.
• Antenna or waves — the DSRC short-range link that lets an enforcement officer read a summary of the unit from the roadside without stopping the vehicle. It is normal to see it; it is not the same as a remote download.

What is different on a Smart 2 display

Second-generation smart tachographs, mandatory in new vehicles since August 2023 and being retrofitted on the timetable in our Smart 2 guide, add symbols that older units do not have:

• Loading and unloading pictograms — the driver records a load or unload operation, and the unit stamps it with the GNSS position. This is the data behind the cabotage and posting-of-workers checks.
• Border crossing — recorded automatically from the position; the driver no longer needs to make the manual country entry at the start and end of the day.
• Authenticated position — the unit distinguishes between a position it trusts and one it could not authenticate. The distinction matters because a jammed or spoofed signal is itself logged.

Reading the symbols on a printout

The daily printout uses the same pictograms in a fixed order: the unit and card identification at the top, then each activity as a line with the symbol, start time and duration, then a section headed with the exclamation mark and cross listing events and faults, then places and the driver's signature line. Two things to check on a printout being handed over at the roadside:

• Any line marked M is a manual entry and should be plausible against the day. Ninety minutes of "other work" entered by hand before a 06:00 start is the kind of thing that gets questioned.
• Any ? line is time nobody has accounted for. If the driver can explain it, they should write the explanation on the back and sign it.

The five mistakes that turn symbols into infringements

1. Break taken on crossed hammers. The most common driving-time infringement on UK fleets, and almost always accidental. The fix is a habit: switch to the bed before the engine is off.
2. Card withdrawn on other work, no manual entry on re-insertion. Produces the question marks, and hides the walk-round check the operator is relying on for the O-licence undertakings.
3. POA selected for work. Waiting in a queue of trucks to be loaded is other work unless the wait and its length were known in advance.
4. OUT used for in-scope driving. A false record, and one of the offences that is treated as deliberate rather than careless.
5. Ferry symbol not selected. The rest is recorded as interrupted, the daily rest fails, and the next day starts with an infringement the driver could not see coming.

Where a download and live driver hours come in

None of this is visible from the transport office unless the data leaves the cab. A remote tachograph download pulls the card and vehicle unit files on schedule, and the analysis translates the pictograms into plain-English infringements with the rule, the time and the margin. Live driver hours go a step further: the office sees the current mode of every driver and how long is left before the next break is due, which is when a phone call still prevents the infringement rather than documents it. The Fleetalyse tachograph page shows both.

Frequently asked questions

What does the square with a line through it mean on a tachograph?

Availability, also called period of availability or POA. It is waiting time whose length the driver knew about in advance, during which they are not required to stay at the workstation. It does not count as working time for the Working Time Directive, which is why it has to be used honestly.

What does OUT mean on a tachograph?

Out of scope. The driving is outside the EU drivers' hours rules, for instance under GB domestic rules, on a private journey or a workshop test. The unit still records the movement; OUT only changes how the analysis treats it.

What does the question mark mean on a tachograph?

Unknown activity: a period with no record, usually between a card withdrawal and the next insertion where the driver did not complete a manual entry. It should be covered by a manual entry or explained in writing.

What does the bed symbol mean?

Break or rest. It has to be selected by the driver. The unit decides whether a rest period is a break, a daily rest or a weekly rest from its length and position in the week.

What is the boat and train symbol for?

The ferry and train crossing rule. It lets a daily rest, a reduced weekly rest, or on long crossings a regular weekly rest, be interrupted for boarding and disembarking without the rest being treated as broken, provided the driver has a bunk or couchette.