Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Baroness Vere of Norbiton to all members of the House of Lords on 24 November regarding smart 2 tachographs, when their installation will become mandatory in (1) new, and (2) existing, vehicles, for use in (a) the UK, or (b) the EU.

A smart 2 tachograph will need to be installed and used in vehicles (in-scope of the retained EU drivers’ hours regulations) registered for the first time on or after 21st August 2023. This applies to UK and EU registered vehicles used in the UK and the EU.

For vehicles registered before 21 August 2023 and used for international journeys between the UK and EU, a smart 2 tachograph will need to be installed in three cases. All cases apply to vehicles registered in the UK and also the EU. These are:

• on or after 31st December 2024, for vehicles equipped with an analogue tachograph or a digital tachograph;
• on or after 19th August 2025, for vehicles equipped with a smart tachograph 1; and,
• on or after 1st July 2026, for vehicles with a maximum permissible mass, including any trailer or semi-trailer, between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes, used for hire or reward transport.