Guide
Tachograph calibration cost: what moves the price per vehicle
Updated
The work is standardised, so the price difference between two approved centres is nearly always logistics: how many vehicles, how far, and when.
Why the per vehicle rate varies
Every approved tachograph centre is doing broadly the same regulated job to the same rules. What differs is how efficiently they can do it for you: a batch of twelve vehicles presented at a yard in one morning is a very different economic proposition from one van driven in on a Tuesday afternoon. That, plus travel, is what moves the number.
The factors that actually change the quote
- Volume. The single biggest lever. Ask for the rate at your real batch size.
- Tachograph generation. Analogue, digital, smart 1 and smart 2 are different jobs, and the centre has to be equipped for what you have.
- Which job it is. An analogue two-yearly inspection is not the same work as a six-yearly recalibration.
- Mobile or centre. Mobile saves driver hours and mileage; the centre saves travel cost. Whichever is cheaper depends on your fleet.
- Downloads and seals. Useful to bundle into the visit, but not automatically included.
- Slot timing. Weekday daytime slots cost a vehicle's running time; out of hours slots cost more to buy.
- Unplanned work. A tyre change, a repair or a registration change triggers a recalibration you did not diarise.
Making two quotes comparable
- Give each centre the same list: vehicle types, tachograph generation per vehicle, base postcode and preferred window.
- Ask for the mobile price and the centre price, then price your own driver time and mileage against the difference.
- Ask whether a vehicle unit download and a seal check are in the price.
- Ask for the slot length per vehicle, because downtime is usually a bigger number than the invoice.
- Agree a single vehicle rate now for the unplanned recalibrations that will happen later.
Check the plaque dates across your fleet before you buy. Vehicles bought used often arrive part way through a cycle, and batching them into one visit is where most of the saving is.
What the rules fix
DVSA guidance for operators states that all tachographs used for recording drivers' hours, whether analogue, digital or smart, must be properly installed, calibrated and sealed, and that this task must be performed either by a vehicle manufacturer or an approved tachograph calibration centre. An installation plaque must be fixed to or near the tachograph, and calibration centres issue a certificate showing details of any inspection conducted (gov.uk). Nothing in the rules sets or caps what a centre may charge.