Tachographs: software updates are now mandatory — and not all of them are free

The second-generation smart tachograph is a computer with a satellite link and remote reading. Like any computer it has security flaws — and European law already set out what to do when they turn up.

Article 20(4) of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 requires type-approval authorities to inform the Commission when measures are needed to fix security vulnerabilities in vehicle units, motion sensors or cards. That mechanism is now working at scale for the first time: the Commission’s Joint Research Centre publishes the list of approved units and the required updates, and the update stops being optional.

The two open cases

VDO DTCO 1381, version 4.1 — mandatory since 15 July 2026. Devices running software version 4126 must move to 4141 (4.1b).

Stoneridge SE5000-8.1 — mandatory since 1 September 2026. Revisions B, C, D and E using software identifiers 1214 or 1619 must move to revision F or later.

In both cases the update is done at an approved workshop and does not require an extra trip: it is carried out at the next compulsory intervention — the two-yearly calibration, or a check after changing tyre size.

Who pays

Here the two brands have taken opposite routes. Stoneridge covers the cost of updating its own devices. VDO / AUMOVIO has set up a system of paid vouchers, which passes the bill to the operator — who did not choose to have the vulnerability and cannot refuse the fix.

According to trans.INFO, which has followed the file, the IRU has already called for uniform European rules on who bears the cost of security fixes imposed by law, and Poland’s TLP wants them to be free, workshop labour included. For now it depends on the brand in your cab.

What to do

There is nothing the driver can do about this at the roadside, and it is no cause for panic: the device keeps working. But it is best not to be caught with the update overdue at a check or, worse, at a calibration rushed through before a trip.

Ask the workshop which software version your tachograph is running — it appears on the printout of the device’s technical data — and if it is one of the listed versions, book the update together with the calibration you already had scheduled. If the fleet is mixed, draw up the list by registration before calling the workshop: the brands have different deadlines, and anyone running both models has two sets of sums to do.

It is worth remembering that the underlying rules have not changed — retrofit deadlines, position records and the 56 days of data on the card all stand as they were. This is security maintenance, not new legislation.