• SECTOR GUIDE
Construction operators run some of the most varied fleets on the road - tippers, grab lorries, flatbeds and vans with trailers moving between sites, depots and supply yards every day. That mix creates real tachograph and drivers' hours complexity: short site-to-site journeys, frequent stops, mixed vehicle types and loading duties that all affect how working time and rest are recorded.
Tacho Agent analyses your tachograph and driver card data to catch infringements before DVSA does, clarify which rules apply to which vehicles, and keep your O-licence protected. Start with a free compliance report.
• THE RISKS
The issues that most often catch operators out.
Vans, tippers and HGVs can sit under different rules; one blanket approach leads to breaches.
Frequent short journeys between sites still build up driving and duty time that's easily under-recorded.
Time loading, tipping or waiting on site counts as other work, not a break or rest.
Driving on the public road between sites is in scope, even where on-site movements aren't.
• TAILORED GUIDANCE
In-depth guidance written for construction fleet operators.
• REFERENCE GUIDES
Full regulation references that apply across every sector.
• COMMON QUESTIONS
Quick answers to what operators ask us most.
No. As soon as any of your driving takes place on the public road, the whole duty period is in scope of the drivers' hours rules - even if it's only a few minutes.
It isn’t.
Under GB domestic rules, time spent driving off the public road for building work, civil engineering, quarrying, forestry or agriculture is left out of the driving-time tally, though it’s still recorded as duty.
The carve-out comes from Part VI of the Transport Act 1968, which underpins the GB domestic drivers’ hours regime.
Yes - where the two scopes overlap in the same day or week, any GB domestic driving is treated as “other work” for EU/AETR rest purposes, meaning the stricter of the two regimes ends up governing the whole period.
Once a vehicle carrying your own goods passes 3.5 tonnes, a restricted O-licence is needed.
Section 2(1) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 makes it an offence to use a goods vehicle on the road for hire or reward, or for a trade or business, without a licence, and section 3(3) sets out when that licence has to be the restricted type.
It's determined by where the vehicle goes.
Assimilated (EU) rules cover goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes operating within the UK and vehicles over 2.5 tonnes used for hire or reward travelling between the UK and EU (bar specific exemptions); AETR rules take over for international journeys that start, end or transit through no EU member states.
GB domestic rules fill the gap wherever neither of the other two applies.
For domestic hire-or-reward work, the threshold sits at 3.5 tonnes. Since 21 May 2022, that scope has widened to also catch light goods vehicles of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes maximum laden weight when used internationally for hire or reward, reflecting commitments under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
• WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Does exactly what I need
The tacho analysis is straightforward and easy to understand whilst giving a great deal of insight into our company's transport operations and provides opportunities for improvement. The analysis arrives promptly and there is always someone one the other end of the phone if I need additional support.
- RW, Operations Manager, construction and groundworks contractor
• FIRST REPORT FREE
A free, no-obligation compliance report based on your own tachograph
data — with the issues found and plain-English actions to fix them.