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When and how drivers must make tachograph manual entries, what to record, and how operators should check them - for HGV and PSV compliance.
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A manual entry is how a driver completes the tachograph record: it accounts for activity the tachograph did not capture automatically, or explains a correction. In practice that means the other work, periods of availability, breaks, rest, annual leave or sick leave that fall outside driving, plus any tachograph fault, wrong mode or time spent working away from the vehicle. The guiding principle is simple: there should be no unexplained gaps in the driver’s day. Drivers must also enter the country in which each daily working period starts and ends. The duty sits with the driver under Article 34 of assimilated Regulation (EU) 165/2014, but the operator carries the compliance risk, and missing manual entries are one of the points DVSA checks most closely at the roadside.
On a digital or smart tachograph, your card records activity automatically only while it is inserted. The moment the card is out (in the yard before you take the vehicle, after you hand it back, or on a day off) nothing is being recorded against you. A manual entry fills that gap: you use the unit’s manual input facility to tell it what you were doing during those periods. On an analogue vehicle, the equivalent is a written entry on the chart.
There are four activity types a tachograph records, and a manual entry uses the same set:
This article covers when a manual entry is required, what it must show, and how to make one on each type of tachograph.
A manual entry is legally required whenever the tachograph record would otherwise be incomplete or misleading. There are four core situations:
In day-to-day terms, drivers commonly need a manual entry when they:
A diary, wage sheet, job sheet or timesheet is not a substitute for a proper tachograph manual record where the rules require one.
This is the one that catches most drivers. If you do half an hour of other work in the yard before you take the vehicle, then drive, then do paperwork after you’ve handed the vehicle back, those periods won’t be on your card unless you enter them.
When you insert your card, the tachograph asks whether you want to add activity for the period since the card was last removed. That is your prompt. The requirement is that all duties since the card was last removed are entered onto the card using the manual entry facility, so enter the other work, POA, break or rest that happened in between.
Separately from activity, you must enter the country in which your daily working period begins and the country in which it ends. This is done at the time the period starts and ends.
This is a common gap, and a point of genuine confusion: a smart 2 tachograph does not make this entry for you. What a smart 2 unit records automatically is border crossings and vehicle position, but the start-and-end-of-day country entry remains the driver’s to make, on every type of tachograph. The requirement comes from Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 , as amended by the Mobility Package (Regulation (EU) 2020/1054).
If the tachograph or card fails, record your activity by hand on printout paper or an analogue record sheet, and report the fault to your operator. If you’ve had to break a drivers’ hours limit for something genuinely unforeseen, an accident, a road closure, note the reason on a printout at your next stopping point. And if the wrong mode was recorded, make and sign a printout explaining the error at the time you spot it.
A good entry answers three questions: what was the driver doing, when did it start, and when did it finish? If a transport manager, enforcement officer or bureau analyst couldn’t understand the day from the record, it isn’t good enough.
Use the correct activity mode:
The single biggest mode error is misusing availability. POA is not a general waiting bucket, and rest is not a way to absorb unrecorded time. If the driver is loading, supervising, doing paperwork, cleaning the vehicle, answering operational calls, or simply staying ready to work without a known period of waiting, it is almost always other work, not availability. Getting this wrong understates working time and creates apparent infringements once the record is analysed.
The exact button sequence varies between makes (Stoneridge and VDO units differ in their menus) so check your unit’s manual for the specifics. The principle is the same on all of them:
One caution worth training drivers on: some units default to “rest” or “other work” when the vehicle stops. The default is not a decision; the driver must still set the correct mode for what they are actually doing.
When the unit isn’t available to record in real time (a long period away from any vehicle, for example) there are only three permitted ways to make the record: a manual entry on an analogue record sheet, a manual entry on digital printout paper, or retrospective use of the manual input facility when the card is next inserted. Diaries, timesheets, wage records and notes on a phone are not accepted.
If you make the wrong entry, don’t pretend it didn’t happen. Make a printout for the period, write a clear note explaining the error and the reason, sign it, and return it with the records.
Analogue tachographs have no manual input facility, so missing activity is written on the chart (normally on the reverse) provided the entry is clear and doesn’t obscure the automatic trace. Include:
For digital printout paper, the record must identify the driver by name and driver-card number or driving-licence number. Where possible include both the card number and the licence number, so the record can’t later be dismissed as unidentified.
A digital or smart tachograph records everything internally in UTC (the same as GMT), whatever the display is set to. In British Summer Time, UTC is one hour behind the clock on the wall.
DVSA’s passenger-vehicle guidance gives the practical example: two hours of other work between 06:00 and 08:00 local time in June must be entered as 05:00 to 07:00 in UTC. One hour out can create an apparent infringement or an unexplained gap, so it’s worth training drivers on. Leaving the unit’s display set to UTC all year round is the simplest way to avoid getting it wrong.
Manual entries aren’t only for driving days. Occasional HGV and PSV drivers get caught out most often on the days before they got in the vehicle. How much you record depends on whether you drove in scope at all that fixed week (00:00 Monday to 24:00 Sunday):
If a daily rest period falls at the end of a no-driving fixed week, immediately before in-scope driving begins, record that daily rest’s start and finish times too. The block-recording allowance is DVSA’s interpretation for UK journeys; on international work, keep full daily records, as enforcement authorities abroad may expect them.
A forgotten card is not a manual-entry situation. If you’ve simply left your card at home, you are not permitted to drive an in-scope digital or smart tachograph vehicle, and you cannot keep manual records to cover it. The card must be with you.
A lost, stolen, damaged or malfunctioning card is different. You may drive without it for up to 15 calendar days (or longer if that is needed to get the vehicle back to base), provided you:
You must report the problem to DVLA and apply for a replacement within seven calendar days.
Drivers must be able to produce their tachograph records and any legally required manual records at the roadside for the current day and the previous 28 calendar days on domestic or AETR journeys, or the previous 56 calendar days on international journeys to and from an EU member country. Operators must keep all drivers’ hours records for at least 12 months and produce them to enforcement officers on request.
The driver makes the entry, but the operator carries the compliance risk if poor records become normal. DVSA expects operators to train and instruct drivers, supply enough charts and print rolls, make regular checks of charts, manual records and digital data, download the vehicle unit at least every 90 days and driver cards at least every 28 days, keep records for 12 months, and take all reasonable steps to prevent breaches.
A sound process for manual entries specifically includes:
If the tachograph doesn’t show the whole truth of the driver’s day, make a manual entry in the proper way, answering what the driver was doing, when it started and when it finished. Missing entries are one of the most common findings at a roadside check, because they show up as unexplained gaps: the “missing mileage” picture where the card account doesn’t add up to a full day. The consequences run from a fixed penalty at the roadside to a driver conduct hearing, or an operator’s repute being questioned at public inquiry.
For transport managers, manual entries aren’t admin clutter. They’re the bridge between real operations and the tachograph file. A clean record makes analysis fairer, helps drivers explain legitimate gaps, and gives the operator a stronger position if DVSA asks questions. Tacho Agent turns those records into clear analysis, infringement follow-up and practical driver feedback, so manual entries are checked as part of the normal compliance routine rather than only after a problem.
This article is provided for general guidance only and reflects our understanding of the rules as they apply in Great Britain as at the date shown on this page. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice tailored to your specific operation.
Drivers' hours, tachograph, working time and operator licensing rules are detailed and change over time, and some requirements differ in Northern Ireland and for international journeys. Always check the current guidance on GOV.UK and the underlying legislation on legislation.gov.uk, and consult your transport manager or a qualified compliance professional before acting.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Tacho Agent Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from action taken, or not taken, in reliance on this article. Nothing here excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence or for fraud. Use of this article is also governed by our Terms of Use.
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