There is an enormous risk for those who use this ruse among truck drivers: the fine is steep and there is also the withdrawal of the licence.
The hauliers they lead a very hard life. We know it: hours and hours of racking up kilometres, in sometimes tragic weather and traffic conditions, uncomfortable rest, long waits to load and unload, lunches and dinners in trattorias that represent a warm refuge in the winter season.
A life that is obviously subjected to tough regulations because tight deadlines can lead some truck drivers to drive for hours without stopping, however accumulating fatigue which can become dangerous not only for them, but above all for others.
For this reason, the European Union and of course Italy have established that inside every heavy vehicle there is a digital tachographotherwise known as the “black box”, which collects, analyzes and processes data on driving times and methods, including rest.
Watch out though because it is the widespread habit of tampering with or even deactivating the tachograph: in this way the haulage company implements a sort of unfair competition against its adversaries, having the theoretical possibility of being able to travel more kilometers in less time.
A practice that is naturally strictly forbidden, as well as very dangerous, and which for this reason is severely punished by the Highway Code.
Digital tachograph deactivated or tampered with: fines of thousands of euros
L’article 179 of the Highway Code regulates this issue and provides for fines starting from 849 up to 3396 euros for the driver, as well as consequent driving license suspension for a period between 15 days and 3 months.
Things get more serious in case of tampering with the device: here we are talking about a double fine, with figures that can exceed 6700 euros. How does the police know about it? It’s very simple.
The Traffic Police, in the routine of road patrolling checks, especially on the motorway network, has the right to carry out a thorough check of the tachograph which consists in the analysis of driving times and vehicle speed.
Thanks to this work, law enforcement agencies are able to understand if there is tampered software that allows you to travel more kilometers than permitted by lawgiving the company carrying out the transport an advantage over the competition that complies with the rules.
And then, as mentioned, there is a road hazard, because in this way the driver is forced to travel a greater number of kilometers obviously sacrificing hours of rest to which he would be entitled with consequences that can also become tragic.
Having said that: if you are caught, the super fine that we saw a few paragraphs ago, the license withdrawal of the driver up to 3 months and seizure of the control device.
A significant damage also for the company which will find itself without a driver, problems in the recovery of the goods and consequent reorganization of the delivery, this time in regular times.
