Tachograph records: what to keep, and for how long

Ask an operator what they keep around the tachograph and you usually get a vague answer. "All the data, just in case." That covers it loosely, but it is not what UK rules actually say. The duties under assimilated drivers' hours, the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, and DVSA's enforcement expectations all set out different retention periods for different things. A driver card download is not kept the same way as a calibration certificate. Records under the working time rules sit under a longer obligation again. At a roadside check or a Desk-Based Assessment, what you need to be able to produce depends on what is being asked.

This guide walks through the four kinds of records that matter, what UK law actually requires, and what DVSA expects to see when it comes asking.

What records do you need to keep around the tachograph?

Four categories tend to come up at a roadside check or a Desk-Based Assessment (DBA). Each one has its own duty.

1. Tachograph data. The raw downloads from the tachograph, in two variants:

• Driver card downloads (C files): data from the driver card of each driver. Records driving, rest and activity history per person.
• Vehicle Unit downloads (M files): data from the Vehicle Unit (VU). Records the same activities, but tied to the vehicle.

Both must be downloaded periodically. Driver cards every 28 calendar days, Vehicle Units every 90 calendar days, with extra triggers when a driver leaves, a card malfunctions, or the VU is being decommissioned.

2. Hardware records. Documents that prove the tachograph itself is valid:

• The calibration certificate issued by an Approved Tachograph Centre (ATC) after each calibration.
• The installation plaque fixed to or near the tachograph, showing inspection and calibration dates.
• A certificate of undownloadability in the rare case that data could not be recovered after a tachograph fault, which must be kept for at least 12 months.

3. Driver records. Evidence that you instructed your drivers and addressed infringements:

• A signed driver handbook per driver covering the rules and your operating procedures.
• Driver debrief records after every detected infringement, naming the cause, the action and the follow-up.
• Induction and training records showing each driver was briefed on tachograph operation.

4. Working time records (RT(WT)R 2005). Records under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005:

• Working time per mobile worker (driving plus other work plus periods of availability).
• Evidence of breaks and rest taken under the working time rules.
• Records of work performed for any other employer.

Each category has its own retention period. The next sections work through them.

How long do you keep tachograph data?

The legal duty under assimilated drivers' hours rules is to be able to produce records to enforcement officers for 12 months. That is the GV262 wording. It covers driver card data, Vehicle Unit data, manual records and the supporting paperwork around them, and applies to records of the operator's own activities and those of its drivers.

In practice, many operators keep tachograph data longer than 12 months. Two reasons:

• The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 require working time records for two years (more on that below). Because tachograph data and working time records overlap heavily, it is simpler to keep everything for 24 months than to split storage by file type.
• A DBA can ask for data covering months back. A pattern of infringements across a year or more will not be visible in a 12-month archive.

The data has to be kept in its original digital form, not just the analyses you ran on it. DVSA at a DBA wants the C files and M files themselves, not summary reports.

How long do you keep hardware records?

There is no specific retention period in assimilated Regulation (EU) 165/2014 for calibration certificates and installation records. The general rule is the same 12 months that applies to other operator records under enforcement duties. In practice, that is the floor, not the ceiling.

At a DBA or operator visit, DVSA wants to see the history of the tachograph, not just the most recent calibration. That means the certificate from the last calibration, the one before, and the original installation plaque record. With a two-year calibration cycle, that easily reaches back four to six years.

Practical rule: for each vehicle, keep all calibration certificates and the installation plaque record for the life of the vehicle. When the vehicle is sold or taken off the licence, keep the records for at least a further five years. A certificate of undownloadability, where one was issued, must be kept for at least 12 months under the regulations.

How long do you keep driver records?

The drivers' hours rules do not set a specific retention period for the driver handbook, debrief records, induction notes and training logs. But two pieces of UK enforcement push you towards keeping them longer.

Operator's Licence undertakings. When you hold an Operator's Licence, you have undertaken that drivers' hours rules will be observed. Where DVSA or a Traffic Commissioner reviews how you have met that undertaking, they look for evidence: signed handbooks, debrief records, action taken on infringements. The absence of records is treated as the absence of action.

Earned Recognition. If you are an Earned Recognition member or considering joining, the scheme requires quarterly evidence of how drivers' hours and working time are being managed. Audit-ready means three years of records, minimum.

Practical rule: keep driver records (handbook, debriefs, training) for the duration of the driver's employment plus three years. For a driver who has been with you eight years, that is eleven years of file. Sensible operators digitise these records once the driver leaves to keep the volume manageable.

The signed driver handbook, by the way, is the document DVSA looks at first when it wants to know whether drivers were instructed properly. A handbook without signatures is a handbook that never happened, as far as the assessment is concerned.

How long do you keep working time records under RT(WT)R?

The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 are explicit. From the gov.uk guidance: "Records must be kept regardless of whether or not the operation works close to the average 48-hour weekly working time limit and need to be kept for 2 years after the end of the reference period in question."

So: 24 months from the end of the reference period. The reference period is normally 17 weeks (or 26 weeks if there is a workforce agreement). That covers working time per mobile worker, including driving, other work, periods of availability, breaks and rest.

The 2005 Regulations also catch self-employed drivers, since May 2012. Self-employed drivers must keep their own working time records for two years and make them available to enforcement officers.

DVSA enforces the 2005 Regulations alongside the drivers' hours rules. At a DBA, working time records are routinely requested. At an Earned Recognition audit, they are part of the standard KPI evidence.

What do you need to carry in the vehicle?

Not everything stays on file at the operating centre. Some records have to be in the cab so the driver can produce them at a roadside check.

Driver card, valid and inserted correctly. The driver must hand it over on request to a DVSA traffic examiner or a police officer.

Tachograph records for the previous 28 days. The driver must be able to produce charts (for analogue) or printouts (for digital and smart) covering the current day and the previous 28 days for AETR or UK domestic journeys under assimilated rules.

56 days of records for international journeys to and from an EU member country. This is the longer carry rule that applies on cross-border work. The driver must be able to produce the current day plus the previous 56 days.

Print roll supply. Enough type-approved print roll so the driver can produce a printout if a traffic examiner requests one.

A means to make manual entries if the tachograph is malfunctioning or the card is lost.

What stays at the operating centre: earlier tachograph data archives, calibration certificates, driver dossiers with handbook signatures and debriefs, working time records.

What does DVSA expect to see at a check?

The exact ask depends on the form of enforcement.

At a roadside check, the traffic examiner wants the driver card, the records of the previous 28 days (or 56 for international), and the tachograph itself. Calibration plaque, seal, type fitted. Operator records on the back-office side do not come up here.

At a Desk-Based Assessment, DVSA writes asking for a specific period of records. Typically driver card and Vehicle Unit downloads covering several months to a year, infringement summaries, evidence of debrief, working time records, and calibration certificates for each in-scope vehicle. The deadline is tight, usually around three weeks. In 2024-25, DVSA carried out 31,824 risk-based targeted checks, above its target of 28,000.

At an operator visit or Earned Recognition audit, the scope widens to systems, not just records. DVSA looks at how you investigate infringements, how you train drivers, how the leadership oversees the operation. A patchy archive is one thing; a missing system is another.

The legal floor across all of this is 12 months for operator records under assimilated rules, and 24 months for working time records under RT(WT)R 2005. The practical floor, given how UK enforcement actually works, is higher.

Three common mistakes when keeping records

Across DBAs and operator visits, three failures come up most often.

One: keeping the analyses, not the raw data. Some operators keep only the reports the analysis software produced, not the original C files and M files. DVSA wants the original downloads. Analysed reports are an addition, not a replacement.

Two: losing calibration certificates when changing ATC. Operators who switch tachograph centres often do not collect the older certificates. The history ends up spread across multiple providers, and at a DBA the picture is incomplete. That counts as a gap in the records.

Three: no documented debrief. The driver conversation about an infringement happens, but nothing is logged. At a DBA or Public Inquiry, this is exactly where the DVSA assessor probes. "You say you debrief drivers. Where is the record?" Without documentation, the conversation did not happen.

What can you do this week?

Three practical actions to put records in order without spending money.

One: build a per-vehicle file. Either digital or physical, one file per vehicle, containing all calibration certificates, the installation plaque record, and Vehicle Unit download history. Make the file name match the registration. Every new calibration certificate goes into the same file.

Two: check tachograph data completeness across the last 24 months. Pick a random driver and verify their C files are present across the whole period. Gaps are common and only get spotted when someone asks. A driver who left six months ago should still have a complete C file archive.

Three: bring debrief records into one place. One central location, one record per infringement, with date, conversation summary, action taken, and driver acknowledgement. Five minutes to build an audit trail from, instead of an afternoon trawling through inboxes.

Key takeaways

• Four categories of tachograph-related records each have their own retention duty: tachograph data, hardware records, driver records, and working time records under RT(WT)R 2005
• Tachograph data (C files from driver cards, M files from Vehicle Units) must be downloaded every 28 days and every 90 days respectively, and produced to enforcement officers for at least 12 months
• Working time records under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 must be kept for two years from the end of the reference period (normally 17 or 26 weeks)
• Calibration certificates and installation plaque records have no specific statutory retention beyond the 12-month general rule, but should be kept for the life of the vehicle to support the next DBA or audit
• Driver records (signed handbook, debrief logs, training notes) should be kept for the duration of employment plus three years to support Earned Recognition audits and Public Inquiry evidence
• Drivers must carry the current day plus 28 days of tachograph records (56 days for international journeys to and from an EU country), the driver card, and supplies of type-approved print roll
• Failure to make, keep or hand over records attracts Level 4 or Level 5 fines under the Transport Act 1968 (as amended) and feeds into OCRS, with cumulative consequences for licence repute