The issue of tachographs in light commercial vehicles, long regarded as relatively marginal, will become a practical concern from 1 July 2026 for many companies using vans for the cross-border carriage of goods. The change stems from the so-called Mobility Package I and is linked in particular to Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers (the “Regulation”) and Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on tachographs in road transport.
The new rules will not apply to all vehicles without distinction. The key factors will include, in particular, the weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles, the purpose of the carriage, the cross-border element, the driver’s job description and whether the carriage is carried out for hire or reward, on own account, or as cabotage.
In practice, the new rules may therefore affect not only conventional carriers, but also companies whose principal business is not transport. This may typically include companies that manufacture, supply or install tailor-made goods and transport them to customers in other EU Member States in their own vans. For these business models in particular, it will be necessary to carefully distinguish whether the transport constitutes a separate transport service or merely an ancillary activity linked to the company’s main business.
Who will be affected by the new obligation?
From 1 July 2026, the rules under the Regulation will also extend to the carriage of goods by vehicles or combinations of vehicles whose maximum permissible mass exceeds 2.5 tonnes but does not exceed 3.5 tonnes, provided that they are used in international road transport or in cabotage operations. This means that the mere fact that a company owns a van will not automatically trigger an obligation to equip it with a tachograph. What will be decisive is the specific manner in which the van is used. Conversely, the fact that a company is not a conventional carrier does not, in itself, mean that the new rules cannot apply to it.
Typically, the new obligation will not apply to vehicles above 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes that are used solely for domestic operations within the Czech Republic.
Particular attention should be paid to combinations of vehicles. In the case of a vehicle with a trailer, the assessment is not based solely on the motor vehicle itself, but on the total maximum permissible mass of the combination. In practice, a vehicle that would not exceed the limit on its own may therefore fall within the scope of the new rules if the company uses it with a trailer.
It is not only about installing a tachograph
The tachograph obligation is not merely a technical question of whether a new device needs to be installed in the vehicle. If the vehicle falls within the scope of the rules, the entire related compliance regime will have to be addressed.
In particular, the carrier will need to ensure the use of driver cards, proper recording of driving time, breaks and rest periods, regular downloading and retention of data from the tachograph and the driver card, route and shift planning so that the driving time and rest period limits can be observed, and readiness for roadside checks.
In practical terms, this means that companies will need to know who drives the vehicles, how often, on which routes, with what load and under which legal regime. It will not be sufficient simply to procure a tachograph and assume that the obligation has thereby been fulfilled.
Own goods and carriage on own account
One of the most important questions will be whether the company carries goods for third parties for hire or reward, or on own account.
Carriage for third parties for hire or reward typically means that the carrier provides a transport service to another person. The customer pays for their goods to be transported from one place to another. In such a case, transport is the very subject matter of the service.
The situation may be different in cases where a company transports its own goods, products, materials, tools or equipment as part of its main business activity. This may typically include a company that designs, manufactures and installs an interior for a customer and uses its own van to transport the equipment which its employees subsequently install on site. In such a case, the transport may not constitute a separate transport service, but only an ancillary activity to the supply and installation of the order.
However, this does not mean that every carriage of a company’s own goods will automatically fall outside the tachograph rules. It will be necessary to assess, in particular, whether the carriage is carried out on own account, whether it is not provided as a separate service for hire or reward, and whether driving the vehicle is not the driver’s main activity.
When may an exemption help?
The Regulation contains a number of exemptions which may be important in practice for light commercial vehicles. The most significant exemption may be the one for vehicles or combinations of vehicles above 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes where the carriage of goods is carried out not for hire or reward or for a third party, but on the own account of the company or the driver, and where driving does not constitute the main activity of the person driving the vehicle.
This exemption may be relevant in practice for companies whose employees are not primarily drivers, but, for example, fitters, technicians or installation workers who merely transport materials or equipment to the place of performance as part of an order.
What will matter is not only the formal job title, but also the actual content of the work. If the employee spends most of their time driving and transport itself is a substantial part of their work, reliance on the exemption will be weaker. Conversely, if the employee drives only in order to transport materials for their own installation or service work, the company’s position may be significantly stronger.
Czech regulation: checks and sanctions
EU regulations are directly applicable, but Czech law supplements them with a control and sanctions framework. From the perspective of Czech law, Act No. 111/1994 Coll., on Road Transport, and the implementing regulations governing state professional supervision and road transport checks are particularly important.
Czech law imposes an obligation to ensure compliance with the requirements concerning driving time, breaks and rest periods, as well as an obligation to ensure proper records of these matters. In the case of vehicles falling under the EU tachograph rules, such records will in practice primarily consist of records kept by means of a tachograph and a driver card, including any manual entries.
Another important obligation is to download records from the tachograph and the driver card within the prescribed time limits. The issue is therefore not only that data must be generated, but also that the carrier must regularly download and retain the data and be able to work with it during an inspection.
Czech law also provides for sanctions. For a carrier, a breach of obligations may in particular result in a fine of up to CZK 350,000, for example if the carrier fails to ensure compliance with the requirements concerning driving time, breaks and rest periods, or if it fails to download records from the tachograph or the driver card within the prescribed time limit. A fine of up to CZK 500,000 may be imposed for failing to ensure the proper keeping, presentation or retention of records of driving time, breaks and rest periods.
Sanctions may not apply only to the carrier. For selected breaches, such as failure to keep or present records or failure to comply with the requirements concerning driving time, breaks or rest periods, the driver may face a fine of up to CZK 15,000. In the case of more serious breaches relating to the tachograph or records, the fine may range from CZK 10,000 to CZK 50,000, together with a ban on the relevant activity for a period of three to six months.
Subject to the statutory conditions, control authorities may also collect a security deposit, generally ranging from CZK 5,000 to CZK 200,000. If the security deposit is not paid, the vehicle may be prevented from continuing its journey, further driving may be prohibited, or transport-related documents or the vehicle’s registration plates may be retained.
A significant institutional change is also the establishment of the Road Transport Inspectorate as a specialized national control authority. This change may lead to more professional and targeted road transport checks, particularly in areas that have historically been more difficult to inspect, including tachographs and compliance with social legislation in transport.
Outsourcing transport does not mean the end of liability
Many companies carry out part of their transport using their own vehicles and outsource part of it to external carriers. In such cases, the primary tachograph obligations will generally remain with the external carrier. It is the carrier that should have appropriate vehicles, drivers, tachographs, driver cards and records.
However, this does not mean that the customer ordering the transport bears no risk. The Czech Road Transport Act prohibits a business operator from ordering transport if it knows, or in view of the circumstances should and could know, that selected rules will be breached in the performance of the transport, including rules concerning driving time, breaks, rest periods or record-keeping. A breach of this prohibition may be sanctioned by a fine of up to CZK 70,000.
In practice, this does not mean that the customer must itself download the external carrier’s tachograph data. It does mean, however, that the customer should not set unrealistic delivery times, knowingly use carriers that do not have the required compliance regime in place, or ignore obvious indications that the transport will be performed in breach of legal regulations. Risk may also arise where the company does not engage a conventional carrier but uses an external installation or service team that transports goods as part of the order. Here too, the factual and contractual setup of the cooperation will be important.
For this reason, it will also be advisable to revise contractual documentation with external carriers. Contracts should include the carrier’s obligation to comply with EU and Czech road transport rules, use properly equipped vehicles, ensure drivers with the necessary cards and authorizations, comply with driving time and rest period rules, and bear responsibility for breaches of obligations that the carrier is required to fulfil.
The practical setup of the cooperation will be equally important. If the customer itself determines the transport schedule, it should set it in a way that is realistic and compatible with the rules on driving time, breaks and rest periods.
Labour law perspective: driver or fitter?
For companies that are not conventional carriers, employment law documentation may also be important. For the assessment of certain exemptions, it may be relevant whether driving the vehicle constitutes the driver’s main activity. If driving is intended to be an ancillary activity, this should be reflected not only in the employee’s job description, but also in the actual organization of work, order planning and internal records.
If the employee’s employment contract or job description states that the employee is a driver, and in practice the employee predominantly drives, it will be more difficult to argue that driving is merely an ancillary activity. Conversely, if the employee is an installation technician, fitter or service specialist and driving serves only to transport materials and equipment to the place where the work is to be performed, the situation may be different.
However, the wording of the contract will not be the only decisive factor. In the event of a dispute, the control authority or a court will be interested primarily in the actual content of the work. Companies should therefore check whether their employment contracts, job descriptions, internal processes and actual performance of work together present a consistent picture.
What should companies do before 1 July 2026?
The safest approach is not to wait for the first inspection, but to map the company’s own transport model before the new obligation takes effect.
As a first step, companies should identify which vehicles they use, what their maximum permissible mass is, and whether they use trailers. They should then categorize their typical transport operations according to whether they involve domestic transport, international transport, cabotage, carriage of own goods, carriage for hire or reward, or outsourcing.
For own vehicles, it will be necessary to assess whether the new rules apply, whether any exemption may be available, and what technical, personnel and process steps will be needed. For external carriers, it will be advisable to review contracts, liability provisions, documentation obligations and the manner in which transport is planned.
Particular attention should be paid to companies performing projects abroad and transporting their own equipment, furniture, technology or installation materials. For these companies, the dividing line between transport as a separate service and transport as an ancillary part of the main order may be the most sensitive in practice.
How to prepare for a possible roadside check?
In addition to the legal assessment itself, it will be important in practice for the company to be able to explain its regime quickly and clearly during a roadside check. The inspection will not be guided solely by how the company labels its activity internally, but primarily by the actual purpose of the journey, the nature of the goods transported, the role of the driver and whether the transport is a separate service or merely an ancillary part of another business activity.
Companies should therefore have a simple internal procedure in place in advance for drivers and persons responsible for transport. The driver should know under which regime the particular journey is being carried out, whom to contact during an inspection, and where to find the basic documents relating to the vehicle, the load and the order. It is also advisable to designate a contact person within the company who will be able to provide additional explanations or send the necessary supporting documents within a short period of time.
For recurring types of situations, a concise set of documents explaining the purpose of the transport and its connection to the company’s activities may be helpful. For cross-border journeys, it is also practical to take account of the language aspect, for example by having at least a brief explanation in the language of the country through which the transport is carried out, or electronic access to documents proving the grounds for an exemption. However, the mere presentation of an explanation does not automatically mean that the control authority will accept it. In borderline cases, it may therefore be important to retain documentation retrospectively as well, so that the company can substantiate not only the documents relating to the vehicle and the load, but also the related contractual, order-related or personnel documentation.
Conclusion
The extension of tachograph rules to light commercial vehicles from 1 July 2026 will not mean a blanket obligation for all vans. It will, however, be significant for companies using vehicles or combinations of vehicles above 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes in the international carriage of goods or in cabotage operations.
For companies that are not conventional carriers, the key will be to correctly describe their own operating model. A company providing a transport service for hire or reward will be assessed differently from a company transporting its own products or equipment for installation as part of an order, and differently again from a situation where transport is fully outsourced to an external carrier.
The safest approach therefore consists in a practical audit of transport scenarios. The company should know which vehicles and routes may fall within the scope of the rules, whether an exemption may be considered for certain transport operations, which obligations it will have to fulfil itself, and which obligations will need to be addressed in relation to external carriers.
Tachographs are therefore not only a transport issue. For many companies, they will also affect contracts with customers and carriers, employment law documentation, order planning, internal processes and management responsibility for compliance with road transport rules.
Mgr. Jakub Málek, Managing Partner – malek@plegal.cz
Mgr. Martin Zavadil, Junior Lawyer – zavadil@plegal.cz
25. 6. 2026