Well Equipped for Europe: The new DTCO 4.1a
From August 21, 2023, all newly registered vehicles over 3.5 tons must be equipped with the so-called 2nd version of the smart tachograph as a control device in order to comply with the provisions of the EU Mobility Package. The VDO DTCO 4.1 tachograph released at the start and the updated release DTCO 4.1a introduced in March 2025 fully meet these legal requirements. They provide reliable data for more efficient monitoring of international freight transport and for many other applications of optimized fleet management.
FUTURE-PROOF WITH THE DTCO 4.1
Rely on the second version of the intelligent tachograph.
Reliability
Connectivity
Hit the Road Truck!
The VDO DTCO 4.1 in a Renault T480 TC high
One of the first vehicles to be equipped with the VDO DTCO 4.1 at the official launch of the smart tachograph (V2) is the white Renault T480 TC high. The vehicle, sold by Renault Trucks dealer Polsad Jacek Korczak of Kutno, was delivered to Domart Sp. J. Dariusz Pilarski Grzegorz Pilarski of Turek, thus adding to the fleet of 10 trucks so far on the road with tarpaulins and refrigerated trailers, in international traffic in Western Europe.
The calibration of this state-of-the-art tachograph was carried out at the Kutno branch of TIR Serwis Andrzej Piorun and Anna Piorun using the latest VDO WorkshopTab 2 and implementing the latest updates provided in the service contract for VDO workshop equipment. With the service contract, the workshop has access to the latest updates of the VDO WorkshopTab tablet as part of a fixed, low fee for participating in the VDO Partner service network.
The latest smart tachograph from VDO automatically records border crossings and supports loading and unloading operations as well as enabling communication with intelligent transport systems via Bluetooth. When the vehicle returns to the workshop for its first mandatory tachograph inspection and calibration, a simple software update can give its tachograph the full functionality of the DTCO 4.1a.
RELEASE Status of the DTCO
Here you can see which DTCO model offers you which functions and which updates you may need. The version number of your DTCO can be found on the type plate (on the top of the DTCO) or on the technical data printout.
| Smart Tachograph V2 | Smart Tachograph V1 | Annex 1B | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTCO® 4.1a | DTCO® 4.1 | DTCO® 4.0e | DTCO® 4.0 | DTCO® 3.0 | DTCO® 2.2 | DTCO® 2.1 | DTCO® 2.0a | DTCO® 2.0* | DTCO® 1.4 | |
| Use of OSNMA-authenticated positioning data | ||||||||||
| Automatic detection of border crossings | ||||||||||
| Bluetooth® Interface | ||||||||||
| Map updates | ||||||||||
| Country preselection (manual addition) | ||||||||||
| Working time counter | ||||||||||
| Extended timeout for manual entry | ||||||||||
| DSRC and GNSS | ||||||||||
| Negative Display | ||||||||||
| Configurable Parameters via Mobile App | ||||||||||
| Remote Control - Manual Addition | ||||||||||
| Vehicle Data | ||||||||||
| VDO Counter | ||||||||||
| “"Independent Motion Signal" support according to Annex 1b | ||||||||||
| Software Updates | ||||||||||
| Graphic printouts | ||||||||||
| Interface for remote download and DTCO® ® Smartlink | ||||||||||
| Idle time when ignition off | ||||||||||
| 1 minute rule | ||||||||||
| Advance warning on periodic check and map expiration | ||||||||||
*Upgrade of release by workshop to release 2.1 possible.
**Must be activated with update card. (Already activated with service device)
