Tachographs for vans: who needs one, and from when

This guide covers Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own guidance, and one rule below, the exemption for heavier electric vans, stops at the Northern Ireland border. Every rule links to the GOV.UK page or legislation that sets it, and each was checked against that page on 12 November 2026.

The short answer

• A van used only in the UK, at 3.5 tonnes or less, does not need a tachograph. DVSA says goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes and under 3.5 tonnes used only in the UK do not have to have a tachograph fitted. A driver who drives it for business for more than 4 hours a day still works under the GB domestic drivers' hours rules: 10 hours' driving and 11 hours' duty a day.
• A van over 2.5 tonnes doing paid work between the UK and the EU has needed a full smart 2 tachograph since 1 July 2026. The driver must also follow the same assimilated drivers' hours rules as a lorry driver, including cabotage inside the EU. The weight includes any trailer.
• The main exemption is own-account work. A van of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes carrying the firm's own goods abroad, driven by someone whose main job is not driving, needs no tachograph.
• A goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, or a van and trailer over 3.5 tonnes combined, comes under the HGV rules wherever it goes, unless an exemption applies. A diesel or petrol van plated above 3.5 tonnes needs a tachograph for UK work too.
• Zero-emission vans over 3.5 tonnes and up to 4.25 tonnes have been exempt in Great Britain since 1 June 2026. The law that made the change is SI 2026/501. The exemption does not cover journeys outside the UK, or into Northern Ireland.
• Paid international van work also needs a standard international operator licence, and has done since May 2022.
• Driver cards cost £32 for the first card and £19 to renew or replace, from DVLA. Government publishes no price for the tachograph itself.

Do vans need a tachograph?

Most vans do not. A van needs a tachograph only when its driver comes under the assimilated drivers' hours rules, and for vans that happens in three situations: the vehicle, including any trailer, is over 3.5 tonnes; it is over 2.5 tonnes and doing paid international work between the UK and the EU; or the driver tows commercially and the combination goes over 3.5 tonnes. GOV.UK's tachograph page puts the basic test plainly: you must use a tachograph if the vehicle you're driving comes under assimilated rules (previously called EU rules) or AETR rules.

The assimilated rules mean Regulation (EC) 561/2006 on drivers' hours and Regulation (EU) 165/2014 on tachographs, as they have effect in the UK. The weight that counts is the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle "including any trailer or semi-trailer", not what it carries on the day. DVSA adds that a vehicle does not have to be laden to be in scope.

Van and use	Tachograph?	Hours rules
Up to 3.5t, UK only, any use	No	GB domestic
Over 2.5t to 3.5t, UK to EU, for hire or reward	Yes, full smart 2, since 1 July 2026	Assimilated
Over 2.5t to 3.5t, UK to EU, own account, driving not the driver's main job	No	Exempt from assimilated rules
Over 3.5t (or van plus trailer over 3.5t), UK or UK to EU	Yes, unless exempt	Assimilated, unless exempt
Zero-emission, over 3.5t to 4.25t, Great Britain only	No, since 1 June 2026	GB domestic

Sources: DVSA's guide to drivers' hours and tachographs for goods vehicles, sections 1, 2 and 4, and SI 2026/501. The table is THRIVE's summary; exemptions for particular trades, covered below, can change the answer.

Towing

GOV.UK's guidance on driving a van says assimilated rules apply if the combined van and trailer weight, the gross train weight, "is above 3.5 tonnes", and that those rules "require you to record your hours using a tachograph". The same applies to a car or 4x4 towing commercially: the light vehicles section of GOV.UK's tachograph page requires one when the combined maximum authorised mass is more than 3,500kg and the vehicle is used commercially. If your vans tow, check them against THRIVE's list of electric vans that can tow and their plated weights before you rely on staying under 3.5 tonnes.

Do I need a tachograph for a 3.5 tonne van going to Europe?

Yes, if you are paid to carry goods in it between the UK and the EU, and its maximum permissible mass is over 2.5 tonnes. Since 1 July 2026 DVSA has required a full smart 2 tachograph in goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes "used for international journeys for hire and reward". Own-account trips are exempt on the conditions in the exemptions section.

DVSA's bulletin to operators of 8 May 2026 said the same, and warned that tachograph fitting bookings had an average lead time of 4 to 6 weeks.

Where the rule comes from

The rule comes from the UK and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. In UK law, SI 2022/1260 was made in November 2022 to "implement aspects of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement" and to bring "goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes on international journeys" into scope "from 1st July 2026". It inserted a new point into Article 2 of Regulation 561/2006 covering, from 1 July 2026, goods "in international transport operations or in cabotage operations" where the vehicle, including any trailer, exceeds 2.5 tonnes. It also amended Article 3 of Regulation 165/2014 so that a smart tachograph 2 must be installed and used in those vehicles from that date "when operating on the territory of a Party" to the agreement other than the one where they are registered.

What the rule covers, and what it does not

• Cabotage is included. DVSA's wording covers international operations "including cabotage, carried out within the UK and the EU".
• AETR journeys are not. DVSA says the 2.5-tonne change "does not apply to AETR-regulated journeys". Under Article 2 of Regulation 561/2006 as it applies in the UK, the AETR agreement governs international operations "undertaken in part outside" the area of the UK and the EU. A trip that leaves that area therefore follows AETR rules, which DVSA notes have not been aligned with the EU regulation. Check each route before you rely on this.

For the size and weight of the vans most fleets run, THRIVE's guide to van sizes explains how van weights and payloads are set.

Other national rules abroad

Vans outside the assimilated rules still have to follow the national rules of each country they drive in. DVSA's own example is Germany, whose national rules, it says, "require drivers of goods vehicles between 2.8 and 3.5 tonnes to record details of their journeys in an AETR-style log book" (GV262 section 2.6). DVSA points operators to the embassies for each country's rules.

Which tachograph a van needs

A van brought into scope by the 2.5-tonne rule needs a full smart 2 tachograph. DVSA recognises four types: analogue, digital, smart 1 and smart 2. Smart 2 units, it says, "automatically record border crossings and the location of the vehicle and allow for enforcement authorities to remotely interrogate the data" (GV262 section 4). A transitional smart 2 unit lacks the Galileo location verification in its software, and the international van rule asks for the full version.

For vehicles already over 3.5 tonnes, the type allowed depends on first registration:

First registered	Tachograph you can use
Before 1 May 2006	Any type
1 May 2006 to 14 June 2019	Digital or smart
15 June 2019 to 20 February 2024	Smart 1, or full or transitional smart 2
21 February 2024 to 23 December 2025	Full or transitional smart 2
From 24 December 2025	Full smart 2

Source: GOV.UK, Tachographs: rules for drivers and operators. An older vehicle used only in the UK can keep its original analogue or digital unit, but a faulty unit in a vehicle on international journeys must be replaced with a smart 2, and a faulty smart 1 or smart 2 must always be replaced with a smart 2 (GV262 section 5).

Fitting one to a van

Tachographs must be installed, calibrated and sealed by the vehicle manufacturer or an approved tachograph centre. Not every van can take one. GOV.UK warns that "it's not always possible to fit a tachograph", and says that anyone buying or leasing a vehicle that will come under the rules needs to make sure it's designed to have a tachograph fitted. DVSA publishes separate guidance on where a unit can go in cars and vans. Raise it at order or lease stage, not after delivery. DVSA's tachograph section for light vehicles is at tachosection@dvsa.gov.uk.

The drivers' hours rules that come with it

Fitting the tachograph is the smaller change. The driver of an in-scope van works to the same limits as a lorry driver. Even a short period of in-scope driving brings the driver under the assimilated rules "for the whole of that day", DVSA says, along with the weekly rest requirement and driving limit (GV262 section 1.2).

Rule	Assimilated (in-scope vans)	GB domestic (most other vans)
Daily driving	9 hours, 10 hours twice a fixed week	10 hours
Daily duty	No set duty limit; DfT says drivers can work up to 13 hours a day	11 hours
Breaks	45 minutes after 4.5 hours' driving, or 15 then 30 minutes	None in these rules; "adequate rest" under the Working Time Regulations 1998
Weekly driving	56 hours in a fixed week, 90 in any two weeks	No limit in these rules
Daily rest	11 hours, reducible to 9 hours three times between weekly rests	None in these rules
Weekly rest	45 hours, or a reduced 24 hours made up by the end of the third following week	None in these rules
Records	Tachograph	Written weekly record sheet in some cases (see below)

Sources: GV262 section 1 and section 2. A fixed week runs from 00.00 on Monday to 24.00 on Sunday.

Rules that bite on international van work

• Regular weekly rest cannot be taken in the van. It must be in "suitable gender-friendly accommodation with adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities", such as a hotel or rental accommodation. A reduced weekly rest can be taken in a stationary vehicle with suitable sleeping facilities.
• Drivers must get home or back to base every four weeks. Operators must organise work so that, within each four consecutive weeks, drivers can return to their operating centre or home for a regular weekly rest, and must keep documents at their premises to show it (GV262 section 5).
• Two reduced weekly rests in a row are allowed on international work, if they are taken outside the UK and the driver's country of residence and at least two of every four weekly rests are regular ones.
• Travel to collect a vehicle away from base cannot count as rest or a break.

Working time

A driver under the assimilated rules is also a mobile worker under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005. Weekly working time must average no more than 48 hours over 17 or 26 weeks, with a maximum of 60 hours in any single week, and there is no individual opt-out. Working time records must be kept for two years. A driver who works 10 days or fewer in scope in a reference period shorter than 26 weeks, or 15 days or fewer in one of 26 weeks or more, counts as an occasional mobile worker and is exempt from the 2005 Regulations.

The GB domestic rules for UK van work

Drivers of vans outside the assimilated rules work under the GB domestic rules in the Transport Act 1968. GOV.UK's van guidance says that if you drive a van for business for more than 4 hours a day, you must follow these rules, and that you can be fined up to £300 for exceeding daily driving limits. The limits are 10 hours' driving and 11 hours' duty in a working day. A driver who drives for no more than 4 hours on each day of the week is exempt from the duty limit for that week.

Vans up to 3.5 tonnes used by doctors, nurses and vets, for "any service of inspection, cleaning, maintenance, repair, installation or fitting", by commercial travellers, by the AA or RAC, or for broadcasting are exempt from the duty limit but not the 10-hour driving limit (GV262 section 2.2). That covers most service and trade fleets.

Written records under the domestic rules are needed for vehicles that require an operator licence where driving exceeds 4 hours in the day, on a weekly record sheet that operators are expected to check and sign. A van of 3.5 tonnes or less used only in the UK needs no operator licence, so on THRIVE's reading it needs no domestic record sheet; DVSA's flowchart in section 2.3 is the authority for edge cases. These drivers are also covered by four provisions of the Working Time Regulations 1998, including a 48-hour average week that individuals can opt out of.

Exemptions

Exemptions apply to journeys wholly within the UK and to journeys between the UK and the EU. National derogations apply only to journeys wholly within the UK (GV262 section 1.1). A vehicle exempt from the assimilated rules usually falls under the GB domestic rules when in Great Britain. The ones that matter most to van fleets:

Own-account vans of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes

Vans over 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes carrying goods "not carried out for hire or reward, but for the own account of the company or the driver", where driving is not the driver's main activity, are exempt. The law is Article 3(ha) of Regulation 561/2006. DVSA sets six conditions, all of which must be met:

1. The goods belong to the business or have a direct connection to it: sold, bought, hired, produced, extracted, processed or repaired by it.
2. The journey is for the business's own requirements.
3. Drivers are employees, people under a contractual obligation to the business, or a sole trader, not independent hauliers.
4. The business owns the van, is buying it on deferred terms, or has hired it under proper arrangements.
5. The carriage is secondary to the business's main activity.
6. Driving is not the driver's main activity, for example a technician, engineer, builder or inspector.

This exemption does not apply to AETR-regulated journeys. An engineering firm sending a technician to a site in France with spares and tools fits the pattern; a courier delivering a customer's consignment does not.

Vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes

• Tools of the trade. Vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver's use in their work, or delivering goods made on a craft basis, within 100 km of base, where driving is not the driver's main activity and the transport is not for hire or reward. DVSA gives electricians and builders as examples.
• Non-commercial carriage in vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, such as moving house.
• Gas and electric vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, other than the zero-emission vans covered below, carrying goods within 100 km of base (a national derogation, UK journeys only).
• Universal service providers (currently only Royal Mail) within 100 km, though their vehicles must still have a tachograph fitted.

Utilities and public services (UK journeys only)

National derogations cover vehicles used in connection with sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity maintenance, road maintenance, door-to-door household refuse collection, telephone services and broadcasting, among others. DVSA notes a number of significant court rulings on this derogation, and its view is that utility vehicles must be maintaining an existing service, not building a new one. Read the full wording in section 1.1 before relying on one.

Out of scope altogether

Drivers who never carry goods in that job are out of scope: delivering or collecting a hire vehicle, taking an empty vehicle to its annual test or for repair, moving vehicles between depots, and delivering new vehicles. This does not cover positioning a vehicle as part of an in-scope journey.

Does a 4.25-tonne electric van need a tachograph?

Not for work in Great Britain since 1 June 2026. A zero-emission van over 3.5 tonnes and up to 4.25 tonnes used only in Great Britain is exempt from the assimilated drivers' hours rules and the tachograph rules that come with them, with no distance limit. Its driver follows the GB domestic rules instead, including the 11-hour duty limit: the domestic duty exemption for service and trade vans covers vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes only (GV262 section 2.2). The exemption does not cover journeys to the EU or into Northern Ireland, where the van needs a tachograph and its driver the assimilated rules.

The change was made by the Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers' Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, made on 11 May 2026 and in force on 1 June 2026. It rewrote paragraph 6 of the Schedule to the Community Drivers' Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2007 to exempt "any zero-emission vehicle which is used by an undertaking for the carriage of goods" with a maximum permissible mass, including any trailer, over 3.5 tonnes and up to 4.25 tonnes. The explanatory note says this exempts these vans from the drivers' hours rules "and the associated tachograph rules" with "no limit on the distance travelled". Before it, these vans had only the older derogation for gas and electric vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, which limited them to 100 km from base.

DVSA's guide now lists the derogation, for Great Britain only, and defines a zero emission vehicle as one "without an internal combustion engine, or with an internal combustion engine that has emissions of CO₂ of 0 grams per kilometre" (GV262 section 1.1).

The same instrument moved these vans to the class 7 MOT. It followed the government's November 2025 consultation response, in which 112 of 168 respondents (67%) agreed with taking these vans out of the assimilated rules and DfT said it would "explore options" for doing so. SI 2026/501 does not change the speed limiter requirement. The instrument must be reviewed at least every five years.

Two points remain open:

• A tachograph may still be fitted. Manufacturers told the consultation that vans over 3.5 tonnes "may be fitted with a tachograph by default". DVSA says drivers of exempt vehicles are not required to use a tachograph even if one is fitted, except at universal service providers, and recommends selecting "out of scope" on a digital or smart unit. A fitted unit used for UK-only work need not be recalibrated provided its seals stay intact.
• Record keeping under the domestic rules. An alternative-fuel van up to 4.25 tonnes used only in Great Britain, and never used for goods outside it, is exempt from operator licensing under Schedule 3 to the 1995 licensing regulations. Since weekly record sheets apply only to vehicles that need an operator licence, on THRIVE's reading such a van needs no domestic record sheet; DVSA has not said so in terms.

The buying side of these vans, including licence rules, is in THRIVE's electric van buying guide, and the payload and licence detail is in van payload and driving licence rules.

Operator licences for vans over 2.5 tonnes

Paid international van work needs a licence as well as a tachograph. Since 21 May 2022, GOV.UK has said you need a standard international goods vehicle operator licence to carry goods for hire or reward in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland in vans over 2,500kg and up to 3,500kg, or vans and cars towing trailers in the same gross train weight band. No licence is needed if the vehicles are used only in the UK or not for hire or reward.

The licence needs a qualified transport manager, and the Traffic Commissioners' guide sets financial standing for a light goods vehicle licence at £1,600 for the first vehicle and £800 for each additional one where no lorries are operated. Drivers must carry a certified copy of the UK Licence for the Community. Fees, transport manager hours and enforcement data are in THRIVE's operator licence and HGV compliance costs guide.

Two further steps apply to international work generally. GOV.UK says you must declare details on an EU portal before drivers carry goods between two points in the EU commercially, including cabotage (declare you're transporting goods inside the EU), and that a CMR note is needed on all international journeys carrying goods on a commercial basis (carry out international road haulage).

Driver cards, downloads and records

Driver cards

A driver must use a driver card when driving an in-scope vehicle with a digital or smart tachograph. A driver who has not been issued a card is not permitted to drive one, and forgetting the card is no excuse: "It is not permitted to keep manual records if the driver card has been forgotten" (GV262 section 4.2). Drivers may hold only one card and must never use anyone else's.

DVLA driver card	Fee
First GB driver card	£32
Renew an expired card	£19
Replace a lost or stolen card	£19
Exchange an EU, EEA or Northern Ireland card for a GB card	£32

Source: DVLA, Apply for a driver digital tachograph card. A lost, stolen, damaged or faulty card must be reported to DVLA immediately, and a replacement applied for within 7 days. Meanwhile the driver can drive without it for up to 15 calendar days using printouts at the start and end of the day. DVLA's leaflet INF177B says to apply to renew at least 15 working days before expiry, and that "You cannot drive if your card has expired."

Operators need a company card to download data from the vehicle unit and to "lock in" their data. The GOV.UK service page does not state a fee.

What operators must do

DVSA's section on operator responsibilities sets the duties:

• download the vehicle unit at least every 90 calendar days, and before the vehicle is sold or off-hired
• download each driver card at least every 28 calendar days, and before a driver leaves, including agency drivers
• have digital and smart tachographs recalibrated every 2 years, after any repair, if the registration number changes, if UTC is more than 20 minutes out, and after a change to the tyre circumference
• make regular checks of the data, schedule work so the rules can be met, and train drivers on the rules and the tachograph
• not pay drivers by speed, distance or amount carried if that would encourage breaches
• be able to produce records to enforcement officers for 12 months

For drivers on international journeys to and from the EU, the records they must be able to produce at the roadside cover the current day and the previous 56 days, against 28 days otherwise. The 56-day period was written into UK law by SI 2025/402 from 21 April 2025. Operators using hired vans may need to train drivers to download the vehicle unit at the point of off-hire.

Enforcement and penalties

DVSA examiners can inspect vehicles, prohibit them and prosecute. Routine breaches by drivers with a UK address usually get a graduated fixed penalty; drivers without a verifiable address pay a deposit and are stopped from driving until they do. Serious cases go to court or to the traffic commissioner, who can act against an operator licence. Under the assimilated rules, operators are liable for their drivers' infringements unless they can show the work was properly organised, drivers were instructed, regular checks were made and no payments encouraged breaches (GV262 section 6).

Offence	Maximum penalty on conviction
Failure to observe driving, break or rest rules	Level 4 fine
Failure to make or keep records under the GB domestic rules	Level 4 fine
Failure to install a tachograph	Level 5 fine
Failure to use a tachograph	Level 5 fine
False entry or alteration of a record with intent to deceive	Level 5 fine, or 2 years' imprisonment on indictment

Source: GV262 section 6, from Part VI of the Transport Act 1968. Offences committed in another country can be enforced in Great Britain if the driver has not already been penalised. Consignors, freight forwarders and contractors share liability for transport schedules that cannot be met within the rules. What these cases cost operators in practice is set out in THRIVE's analysis of tachograph non-compliance.

How much does a tachograph cost for a van?

Government sets only the card fees. DVSA and GOV.UK publish no price for buying, fitting or calibrating a tachograph; approved tachograph centres set their own. Budget for these items, and get quotes:

Cost	Amount	Source
Driver card	£32 first, £19 to renew or replace	DVLA
Company card	Not stated on GOV.UK	DVLA service page
Smart 2 unit and fitting	No official price	Approved tachograph centre quote
Calibration every 2 years	No official price	Approved tachograph centre quote
Download and analysis	No official price	Equipment or bureau service
Operator licence financial standing, vans only	£1,600 first van, £800 each extra (held, not spent)	Traffic Commissioners

On these assumptions, a fleet putting 10 drivers through first cards pays DVLA £320 (10 × £32), and £190 when those cards are renewed. The larger costs are the units, the time to plan work within the assimilated limits, hotel nights for regular weekly rest abroad, and the licence.

Compliance checklist

1. List every van with its plated maximum permissible mass, including the trailer weight where it tows. Anything over 2.5 tonnes is in play.
2. Record how each van is used: UK only or international; for hire or reward or own account; whether the driver's main job is driving.
3. For own-account international trips, check all six conditions of the 2.5 to 3.5 tonne exemption and keep the reasoning on file.
4. For paid UK to EU work, hold a standard international operator licence with the van authorised, a transport manager, and the certified UK Licence for the Community in the cab.
5. Fit a full smart 2 tachograph at an approved tachograph centre, and check the van can take one before you buy or lease it.
6. Get every driver a driver card (£32) and the company a company card, and lock in on each vehicle unit.
7. Schedule to the assimilated limits: 9 hours' driving, 45-minute breaks, 11 hours' daily rest, regular weekly rest off the vehicle, and a return home or to base every four weeks.
8. Download vehicle units every 90 days and cards every 28 days, analyse the data, act on infringements and keep records for 12 months, and working time records for 2 years.
9. Calibrate every 2 years and after repairs, registration or tyre changes.
10. For 4.25-tonne electric vans, keep them inside Great Britain if you want the exemption. Any trip to the EU or Northern Ireland puts them back under the assimilated rules.
11. For UK-only vans, manage the GB domestic limits of 10 hours' driving and 11 hours' duty, and the Working Time Regulations 1998.

About this guide

THRIVE researched this guide from DVSA's drivers' hours and tachograph guide for goods vehicles (GV262), GOV.UK's tachograph, van and international haulage pages, DVLA's card pages, DVSA's operator bulletin of 8 May 2026, and the text of the law on legislation.gov.uk: Regulations 561/2006 and 165/2014 as they apply in the UK, SI 2022/1260, SI 2025/402 and SI 2026/501. Where the guide gives THRIVE's own reading, such as on domestic record sheets, it says so.

It does not cover passenger vehicles, Northern Ireland's rules, the national rules of individual EU countries, driving licence categories, or the detail of operator licence applications. It is not legal advice; DVSA itself says to check the legislation and get legal advice on your own position.

THRIVE will review it when DVSA updates GV262, when DVLA changes card fees, and by 12 May 2027 at the latest.

Cite as: THRIVE, Tachographs for vans: who needs one, from when, and the rules for vans over 2.5 tonnes, thrivefleet.co.uk. Free to quote with a link to this page.