Guide
Tachograph download rules: 90 days, 28 days and the records
Updated
Downloading is a separate duty from calibration, but the two collide often enough that it is worth planning them together.
The two download periods
- Vehicle unit, every 90 days
- gov.uk states that operators must periodically download data from digital and smart tachographs, known as the vehicle unit or VU, every 90 days.
- Driver cards, every 28 days
- The same guidance states that driver card data must be downloaded every 28 days, and that operators must analyse the information to ensure that the rules have been complied with.
Both periods are stated in DVSA guidance for goods vehicle operators (gov.uk). The duty is to download and analyse, not simply to store: the same guidance lists making regular checks of charts, manual records and digital data among operator responsibilities, and being able to produce records to enforcement officers for 12 months.
Why it belongs in the same conversation as calibration
- The vehicle is already off the road and in the hands of a technician, so the marginal cost of a download at that point is small.
- A calibration after a repair is exactly the moment when data can be at risk. gov.uk advises operators to ask the repair centre to download any data held on the unit, and where that is not possible, the centre should issue a certificate of undownloadability, which must be kept for at least 12 months.
- A centre that offers download as a bundled line saves an admin task you would otherwise schedule separately.
- If you outsource analysis, the calibration visit is a natural checkpoint for confirming every vehicle in the fleet is actually reporting.
A simple operating rhythm
- Diarise driver card downloads on a 28 day cycle, not monthly. Months are longer than 28 days and the drift catches people out.
- Diarise vehicle unit downloads inside 90 days, with a margin for vehicles that are off site on the due date.
- Attach a download to every calibration or repair visit, and record whether it succeeded.
- Keep the analysis output, not just the raw files: the duty is to check compliance, and being able to produce records to enforcement officers for 12 months is a stated operator responsibility.
This page summarises DVSA guidance so you can plan the work. It is not transport law advice, and operators should check the current guidance for their own vehicles and journey types.