Tachograph download frequency: 28 days, 90 days and 12 months

Download the driver card at least every 28 days and the vehicle unit at least every 90 days. That is Regulation (EU) 581/2010. The operator keeps the downloaded data for at least 12 months. In the cab, the driver must carry the records for the current day and the previous 56 days.

Two memories, two deadlines

A digital tachograph stores data in two places. The driver card follows the driver from truck to truck. The vehicle unit, the mass memory, stays in the vehicle and records whoever drives it.

Regulation 581/2010 is a Commission regulation adopted under Art. 10(5) of Regulation 561/2006, and it applies directly in every Member State. The Publications Office metadata, checked on 15 November 2026, list it as in force.

What	Deadline or period	Where it is written
Driver card download	At least every 28 days	Reg. 581/2010, Art. 1(3)(b)
Vehicle unit download	At least every 90 days	Reg. 581/2010, Art. 1(3)(a)
Keeping downloaded data	At least 12 months after recording	Reg. 561/2006, Art. 10(5)(a)(ii)
Keeping record sheets and Art. 35 printouts	At least one year from use	Reg. 165/2014, Art. 33(2)
Records carried on board	Current day plus the previous 56 days	Reg. 165/2014, Art. 36

These are maximums. Art. 10(5) of 561/2006 tells the operator to download at the frequency set by the Member State, and more often if needed so that no data is lost. Regulation 581/2010 adds that the transfer must avoid “any loss” of data. Where data could be lost sooner, 28 days is a ceiling, not an appointment.

Counting the days

Recital 3 of Regulation 581/2010 says only days with recorded activity should count. That sentence sits in the preamble, outside the articles.

Our advice: count calendar days. That reading never leaves you short. It is also how the DVSA reads it for the “assimilated” rules that still apply in Great Britain after Brexit: operators must download driver cards “at least every 28 calendar days” and vehicle units “at least every 90 calendar days”.

A worked example with fixed dates

Mario drives an artic for a haulier in Brescia. His card is downloaded on Tuesday 3 March 2026. The next download is due by Tuesday 31 March 2026, 28 days later.

His tractor unit had its last mass memory download on Thursday 15 January 2026. The next one is due by Wednesday 15 April 2026, 90 days later.

On Wednesday 20 May 2026 Mario is stopped at a roadside check. He must be able to show his card, manual entries and printouts from 25 March to 20 May 2026. If he drove an older analogue vehicle in that period, the charts are needed too.

Card data recorded on 10 March 2026, once downloaded, stays in the operator’s archive until at least 10 March 2027.

56 days in the cab

Until 30 December 2024 drivers carried 28 days of records. Regulation 2020/1054 raised that to 56 days, applicable from 31 December 2024.

With a digital tachograph, Art. 36(2) asks for the driver card, every manual entry and printout made on the current day and the previous 56 days, and the record sheets for the same period if the driver used vehicles with analogue tachographs. With an analogue tachograph the driver carries the charts for the current day and the previous 56 days, the driver card if he holds one, and the printouts and manual entries for the same period.

If something is missing, Art. 36(3) lets the inspector look at any other supporting document that justifies the gap. That is an opening, nothing more.

At the office

Art. 33(2) of 165/2014 requires record sheets, and printouts made under Art. 35 (damaged, lost or stolen card), to be kept for at least one year, in chronological order and legible. If a driver asks for a copy of the data downloaded from his card, the operator has to provide it.

The same article, in paragraph 1, makes the operator responsible for training drivers on the tachograph and for regular checks that they use it correctly. Regular downloads are the simplest way to run those checks: files read every month show mistakes while they can still be fixed.

If a card breaks just before a download, follow the procedure for a lost, stolen or faulty driver card. The limits these files are used to check are in our guide to EU driving hours rules, and absences from the vehicle are covered in the piece on the attestation of activities form. Vehicles with a smart tachograph version 2 have the same download deadlines.

In practice

Schedule each card download at 21 to 25 days and each vehicle download at 60 to 80, so that a day off or a week in the workshop does not push you past the limit. Keep two copies of every file, with the download date, for at least 12 months. Remind drivers they now need 56 days of printouts in the cab.

What this article does not cover. In this round we did not read any national rule (for Italy, Normattiva or the transport ministry) setting a download frequency different from Regulation 581/2010. If a national act sets shorter periods, that act applies. We do not cover penalties for missed downloads, which are national.

The EU texts were read from the Publications Office repository, because EUR-Lex was not reachable on 15 November 2026: first in Italian, then checked against the English text.