Tachograph downloads: what the rules actually say about how often (and the figure that's out of date)

Ask a group of operators how often the vehicle unit has to be downloaded and you'll hear three different answers: 28 days, 56 days and 90 days. Only one of those is the current rule for the vehicle unit, and it's worth being clear on all three, because the download record is one you'll want to be able to show.

What the rules say

The GOV.UK guidance on drivers' hours and tachographs for goods vehicles says operators must periodically download data from digital and smart tachographs, and then analyse it to make sure the rules have been complied with. The intervals are:

• Vehicle unit: every 90 days

• Driver card: every 28 days

Drivers must make their cards available so their employer can download them. The responsibility to download and analyse the data sits with the operator.

Where the 56 days comes from

The 56 day figure for the vehicle unit is out of date, but it hasn't gone away. The maximum period for vehicle unit downloads used to be 56 days, and it was extended to 90 days in 2015 to bring the UK in line with the rest of Europe. The driver card period stayed at 28 days.

You'll still see 56 days in older guides, and some analysis software has been set up with it as a default. It's worth knowing the difference between the rule and your own practice, especially if someone asks which one you're working to.

Good practice goes further than the limits

The 28 and 90 days are maximums, not targets. Good practice is to download driver cards daily and vehicle units monthly. That's good practice and not a legal requirement, and how close you can get depends on your fleet and your system. Remote download can make it much easier, but it's worth checking it's working and not assuming it is.

Daily downloads matter most for driver cards, for three reasons:

• Infringements are picked up at the time. You can talk to the driver while it's fresh and stop it happening again, instead of finding out weeks later.

• Repeat infringements don't build up. Wait until the end of 28 days and the same issue can have happened many times. A string of identical infringements doesn't look good for the driver or for the operator, because it suggests the data isn't being acted on.

• It protects the driver at the roadside. A driver can be asked to produce records for the current day and the previous 28 days. The GOV.UK guidance says fixed penalties for drivers' hours offences are graduated by seriousness, and a driver without a verifiable UK address has to pay a deposit and can't carry on driving until it's paid. An issue that has been caught and dealt with earlier is far less likely to be sitting in the records.

What DVSA's enforcement policy says

DVSA's Enforcement Sanctions Policy backs up the case for acting early. It says:

• Fixed penalties come in four levels: £50, £100, £200 and £300. Some drivers' hours offences are graduated by severity, so exceeding the daily driving limit by 30 minutes gets a lower level than exceeding it by two hours.

• Offences within the last 28 days, or since the last enforcement check, should normally be dealt with by a fixed penalty. Offences older than 28 days must be progressed by conventional prosecution.

• For a driver with a verifiable UK address, up to five offences from one examiner's check can be dealt with by fixed penalty. Beyond that, the policy says the result is a prosecution report.

• The policy includes a pre-agreed table, agreed by DfT, DVSA and industry, to target serious or serial offenders. The highest combinations of offences are marked for court referral or prosecution.

A driver whose records show the same infringement repeated again and again looks like exactly the serial pattern the policy is aimed at. Catching it on day one, instead of day 28, is better for the driver and for the operator.

Has anything changed recently?

As far as the official guidance shows, the download intervals haven't changed. The GOV.UK change history for the guidance doesn't record any change to them.

What has changed recently is separate from the download rules:

• From 24 December 2025, the guidance says newly registered goods vehicles must have a full smart 2 tachograph fitted.

• From 1 July 2026, the guidance says assimilated drivers' hours rules apply to light goods vehicles weighing 2.5 tonnes or more on international journeys, and that goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes used on international journeys for hire and reward need a full smart 2 tachograph.

If those are the dates you've heard about, they don't alter how often you need to download. Check the current guidance for whether they apply to your vehicles.

Using a bureau doesn't pass the responsibility on

Many small operators use an outside company to analyse their tachograph data, and that's a sensible way to do it. The duty to download and to make sure the data has been analysed and acted on still sits with the operator, so it's worth knowing your own download dates, not just assuming the bureau has them.

A simple way to stay on top of it

• Keep a record of the last download date for every vehicle unit and every driver card.

• Set reminders well inside the limits, and aim for daily downloads for cards and monthly for vehicle units where you can.

• Make sure new starters' cards are added and leavers' cards are downloaded before they go.

• Check that any remote download system is actually working, because a missed download is easy to overlook.

A tachograph download record is part of how an auditor will look at drivers' hours and recording systems, which is one of the 12 areas in the Operator Compliance Audit framework.

If you'd like your drivers' hours and recording systems looked at properly as part of a full audit, get in touch at enquiries@ukfleetaudit.co.uk.

Compliant fleets don't get lucky. They get built that way.

References

GOV.UK (2026) Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles, 4. Tachograph rules. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/drivers-hours-goods-vehicles/4-tachograph-rules (Accessed: 10 October 2026).

DVSA (2026) Enforcement sanctions policy. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/683f0103619fa00d0be98e05/dvsa-enforcement-sanctions-policy.pdf (Accessed: 20 October 2026).

GOV.UK (2026) Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles, 5. Enforcement and penalties. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/drivers-hours-goods-vehicles/5-enforcement-and-penalties (Accessed: 20 October 2026).

GOV.UK (2026) Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles, updates. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/drivers-hours-goods-vehicles/updates (Accessed: 10 October 2026).

Descartes SmartCompliance (2015) DVSA extends period for VU digital tachograph downloads. Available at: https://smartcompliance.descartes.com/resources/news-blog/dvsa-extends-period-for-vu-digital-tachograph-downloads/ (Accessed: 10 October 2026).