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Country entry at the start/end of a shift as a mandatory requirement (16.4.2026)
In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, Article 34(7), the country entry is mandatory at the start and end of each working day.
This entry is unrelated to the automatic recording of a border crossing and must be carried out manually on all digital tachographs.
The country entry for the start must coincide with the start of the first work activity of the day. The country entry for the end must coincide with the start of the daily rest period.
Infringement assessment
An infringement occurs if the country entry is made too early, too late or not at all in relation to the corresponding start or end of the working day.
Common errors
The working day begins or ends with a rest period, and the country entry does not correspond to the start or end of the working day. This happens when the card is inserted or removed whilst the tachograph is still in rest mode.
Country entry in manual entry
If the manual entry does not end on a daily or weekly rest period, the start country is often set incorrectly. Care must be taken to ensure that after the last daily or weekly rest period, the start country is selected as the first activity, and only then are further activities for the current working day added. The prompt for the start country at the end of the manual entry must then be skipped to avoid duplicate entries.
Brief recommendation:
This describes only the start country in detail, as this is where most errors occur. Of course, the end country must also be entered accordingly.
When inserting the card: (manual entry ends with a daily rest period)
1. Set the tachograph to ‘Work’
2. Insert the driver card
3. Manual entry
4. Set the start country
When inserting the card: (manual entry does not end with daily rest period)
1. Set the tachograph to ‘Work’
2. Insert the driver card
3. Manual entry up to and including the last daily rest period
4. Enter the start country
5. Enter activities for the current working day
6. End of manual entry
7. Decline the tachograph’s request for the start country
Driver card remains inserted in the tachograph overnight:
1. At the start or end of work
2. Set the tachograph to ‘Work’
3. Enter the country manually via the tachograph.
At the end of work, do not switch to rest mode until the country has already been entered.
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