Following several intermediary milestones for the retrofitting of the smart tachograph version 2 (G2V2), the final deadline for heavy-duty vehicles has arrived.
Starting 19 August 2025, all heavy-duty vehicles registered in the EU and operating in Member States other than their Member State of registration must be fitted with G2V2 devices. This last milestone concerns the retrofitting of all vehicles engaged in international transport and still equipped with the first version of the smart tachograph.
The first milestone was two years ago, when the obligation to be equipped with G2V2 devices applied to all new vehicles. The second milestone in December 2024 concerned vehicles already in circulation involved in international traffic and equipped with analogue or digital tachographs.
The situation now demonstrates an unprecedented successful effort compared to December 2024. At the time, a significant number of transport operators were not prepared to continue cross-border operations as of 1 January 2025 due to delays in the retrofitting of G2V2 devices, which is why, upon IRU’s call, Member States reached a consensus for a grace period for the retrofitting of tachographs.
IRU EU Advocacy Director Raluca Marian said, “We are proud of the extraordinary financial and planning efforts of the large majority of road transport operators that managed to make up for the initial delays caused by the availability of G2V2 devices, workshop hiccups, and various technical glitches, successfully transitioning on time for this final heavy-duty vehicle deadline.”
“While remaining thankful to the European Commission and Member States for having heard our calls and granting the required grace periods over the past two years, we are happy to report that we are ready,” she added.
G2V2 devices come with a host of benefits. Compared to the smart tachograph version 1, G2V2 includes additional features such as automatic registration of border crossings and the possibility for enforcers to access data remotely. G2V2 is a key tool for monitoring compliance with EU driving and rest time rules as well as with cabotage regulations and even the posting of drivers.
“This is a good step for further digitalisation in road transport, including digital support for targeted enforcement. However, we are still far from the European Commission’s self-set target of paperless cabins by 2030,” said Raluca Marian.
While heavy-duty vehicles have completed their transition, the next tachograph deadline of 1 July 2026 concerns road freight vehicles weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes engaged in international EU services.
Light commercial vehicles will also have to respect both EU driving and rest time rules and Lex specialis on the posting of drivers, which is a novelty for this segment.
These new requirements will add to the obligation to abide by EU cabotage rules since 2022, which marked the first steps to align rules applicable to heavy-duty vehicles and light vehicles involved in international traffic.
To help the market prepare for this important change in 2026, IRU, the European Labour Authority and CORTE will host an online webinar on 3 September. The webinar will explain the legislative framework; how enforcement will work; and the resources available to operators.
