A rule change that rewrites the compliance perimeter
On 26 February 2026, Transportstyrelsen published a press release confirming that from 1 July 2026, EU driving time and tachograph rules will apply to international goods transport carried out with vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes, including trailer combinations — a vehicle class that has not previously been subject to these obligations. The announcement is grounded in EU Regulation 165/2014 and the EU Mobility Package I. The extension to light commercial vehicles fundamentally changes the compliance footprint of any operator running cross-border delivery, service, or rental vans.
The operational gap is bigger than the technical one
The hardware is the easy part. A certified workshop installs the unit, calibrates the system, and issues the company lock. The harder problem is everything that runs in parallel: route planning, driver card applications, data archiving procedures, and download schedules that must now meet the same standards heavy transport has operated under for years. For fleets that have never touched tachograph administration, that is not a technology project — it is a process transformation.
120 days and a shrinking window
The financial risk of missing the deadline is real — under EU tachograph regulations, member states are required to impose effective and dissuasive penalties, with fines ranging up to €30,000 depending on the country and severity of the infringement. But the less visible cost is operational: fleets that wait until June will be competing for workshop slots, rushing driver training, and building compliance processes under pressure. The organisations that clear a July inspection without disruption won’t be the ones who knew the rules earliest. They’ll be the ones who had the process in place to act on them.
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