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Downloading driver cards

A driver card stores the driver's activities, the vehicles they used and other records. Downloading copies those records into a file that you keep and upload here.

How a driver card is downloaded

Card readers and download tools differ, so follow your device's manual. In general:

  1. Put the driver card in a card reader connected to your computer, or download it through the vehicle unit, if your vehicle unit and download tool support that.
  2. Start the download in your download tool, and wait until the tool says it has finished.
  3. Find the file the tool saved, and upload it here with Upload downloads.

Downloading copies the data together with its digital signature, and must not alter or delete the data stored on the card (Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, Article 2(2)(n)). Do not edit or re-save the file afterwards: that breaks the signature.

How often

  • Download each driver card at least every 28 days (Regulation (EU) No 581/2010, Article 1(3)(b)).
  • Only days with a recorded activity are counted for that period (Regulation (EU) No 581/2010, recital 3).
  • The data must be downloaded in such a way that no data is lost (Regulation (EU) No 581/2010, Article 1(4)).
  • Your Member State may require downloads more often. The undertaking must make sure that all data about the activities carried out for it is downloaded (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, Article 10(5)(a)(i)).

Data health shows which cards are due.

Keep your own copies

  • Transport undertakings must keep all data downloaded from vehicle units and driver cards for at least 12 months after recording, and make it accessible to an inspecting officer who asks (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, Article 10(5)(a)(ii)).
  • When a driver asks, give them a copy of the data downloaded from their card, together with a printed paper version (Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, Article 33(2)).
  • TachoTrace is not your statutory archive. Keep the original files in your own storage.

Uploading card files

  • Upload the file as your tool saved it. Any file name works: the content tells TachoTrace that it is a driver card.
  • A card file gives the most complete driver timeline. Upload card files as well as vehicle unit files.
  • A renewed card is linked to the same driver through the driver identification, so the driver keeps one row in Drivers.

These guides explain; they are not legal advice. Where they quote a regulation, the source is linked.