Starting July 1, 2026, EU will require tachographs in 2.5-3.5 ton commercial vehicles, imposing new costs on transport companies.
Scope of New Requirements
New EU tachograph requirements will apply to vehicles weighing 2.5 to 3.5 tons, owned by companies registered in the European Union. These requirements cover both international transport and cabotage operations—transport within a single country other than where the company is registered.
The obligation to install tachographs in buses and enforce driving time and rest limits for drivers of such vehicles was introduced into EU Regulation 561/2006 in 2020. Previously, this regulation only governed driving time for truck drivers.
Technical Requirements
Buses will need to be equipped with the latest type of digital tachograph—the intelligent second-generation tachograph (G2V2). This device enables automatic recording of border crossings and allows remote data reading by control authorities.