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Fines for the absence of smart tachographs are temporarily abolished by Sweden and Norway

The governments of Sweden and Norway have announced that in these countries the services will not fine drivers or transporters who failed to install the new intelligent tachograph 2.0 in their trucks by August 21.

The decision by Sweden and Norway to abolish fines for not having a new tachograph is due to a combination of factors, including the delay of the Galileo signal and the lack of tachographs.

In Sweden, the government has announced that the exemption from fines will apply between August 21, 2023 and January 31, 2024.

Unfortunately, the industry cannot currently comply with the rules because there are no new tachographs. According to the government, it is impractical to force newly registered cars to stand still until the new tachographs are ready to be installed.

The Norwegian Road Administration has announced that it will not fine carriers for violating the new tachograph requirements until September 30, 2023 for national transport in Norway.

A new version of tachographs, called Smart Tachograph 2 (SMT2), must be fitted to all new heavy-duty vehicles from 21 August 2023 under the Mobility Package rules. One of the important functions of the new devices will be the automatic registration of border crossings by vehicles.

For this, the tachographs must be ready to authenticate the signal from the Galileo Open Service Satellite Navigation Message Authentication Service (OSNMA) – as soon as the new Galileo system is operational. This is the problem, the service will not be available until December 2023.

IRU call

Last week, the IRU called on the European Commission to recommend that Member States, as an exception, grant a grace period until the end of 2023 to install SMT2 devices in vehicles registered to date. This decision should apply to both national and international transport, due to the delay in the delivery of the new smart tachograph.

Our sector is looking forward to the intelligent tachograph version 2.0. Among other benefits, its new features could reduce the number of roadside checks and improve the quality of work of drivers and services, as they will only target frequent and serious offenders. But delays in the supply of new tachographs may block 20,000 to 40,000 cars by the end of 2023. Such blocking is unacceptable

The IRU warns that even if an EU member state unilaterally decides, as an exception, to allow the registration and circulation of new vehicles equipped with SMT1 devices, carriers may be fined if they cross borders into states that take a different approach.