Reducing bureaucracy – Digital recording – Precise control

Digital steering protocol

The end of paperwork

Digital steering log on the smartphone

Fast & accurate

GPS support, simple processing for drivers

Verifiable control

Easily check steering logs in the vehicle and in the office

Steering log regulation LP-VO Keep digital steering log on smartphone
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When must a steering log be kept?

From 01.01.2019, drivers must keep the new personal logbook in accordance with Section 17 (4 to 6) AZG in the form of a driving log based on the Driving Log Ordinance (LPVO). Companies must have their drivers keep a driving log if a tachograph is NOT installed in the vehicle (or if it is not used) and there is NO exemption from the obligation to keep a driving log.

Vehicles with a maximum weight of up to 7.5t for the transportation of material or machinery within a radius of 100km from the company’s location have so far been exempt from the tachograph obligation, but must keep a steering log unless another exemption from the steering log obligation applies.

Telematics device in the vehicle for driving times and driver recognition

Telematics device for automatic recognition of driving and standing times and registration of different drivers.

Drivers edit steering log on smartphone

Standstill times are marked on the smartphone as driving breaks, rest periods or working hours. Drivers can enter additional operating times before or after their journeys.

Company controls

Driving logs are checked centrally, driver details are corrected and confirmed with a check.

Driving times during the day
Steering protocol functions in the GPS Fleet software
Steering log report
Overview of steering protocols

Pluggable telematics device for steering protocol…

Automatic driving times with plug-in tracking device, also with driver recognition!

Open steering log as driver

Drivers can view and edit their own driving times and breaks on their smartphone.

Digital steering log for drivers on the smartphone

Sign the driving log online

Drivers who are logged in with a user name and password can comment on and approve (=sign) their own driving logs online after the check.

Digital driving log for drivers to sign on their smartphone

Always there for the last 14 days

Drivers always have the driving logs of the last 14 days available on their smartphone for checks.

Digital steering log available on smartphone for 14 days

Exemptions from the driving log requirement

It seems to be the case that all salaried field staff in cars or station wagons do not need a driving log. It depends on the actual area of activity. A sales representative spends a lot of time in a vehicle (station wagon, car), but his work will mainly be sales and customer service. If the sales representative drives a light commercial vehicle (Caddy), things look quite different again.
As with the two previous questions, the assessment of the facts cited here must be carried out in accordance with § 2 Para. 2 Z 5 and 6 LP-VO. Here too, the fact that goods are being transported is not relevant, but only the type of vehicle used (M1 or N1), the main activity and the daily and weekly driving times.

If the approx. 6 hours per day you stated actually refer to driving time (= time spent on the road), then there is an obligation to keep driving logs for N1 vehicles in any case. If they were M1 vehicles (which I do not assume due to the tax savings and the transport activity), then the relationship between the working hours at the coffee machines and the driving times would still have to be checked. Of course, this depends on the radius in which the employees work and how many vending machines are used in a day. Only then can it be assessed whether the activity at the coffee vending machines actually predominates.

In this case too, the existence of goods transportation is not relevant for a possible exception to keeping the driving log. Rather, it depends on the vehicles used and the actual activity.

According to experience, these journeys are usually carried out with other motor vehicles (passenger cars or estate cars). Here, too, it should be checked whether the vehicle is registered as an M1 or N1 vehicle under motor vehicle law.
In the case of M1 vehicles, it should be checked whether the exception to keeping a driving log pursuant to Section 2 (2) no. 5 LP-VO (see above) applies. Since, according to the information provided by the employee, the collection and transportation of blood units and tests is the main activity, driving is to be regarded as the main activity for these employees. In this case, there is therefore an obligation to keep a driving log.
If the journeys were carried out with N1 vehicles (small trucks with a maximum permissible mass of less than 3.5 t), an exception would have to be examined on the basis of § 2 para. 2 no. 7 LP-VO (see above).
In this case, too, the question arises as to both the main professional activity and the duration of the daily or weekly driving time. Under the circumstances cited by you (collection and transportation of blood samples/tests), it can be assumed that driving is in any case the main professional activity. A driving log would therefore have to be kept in any case.
However, if a laboratory employee collects the blood units and tests himself/herself in an N1 vehicle and then also evaluates them in the laboratory, then driving would not be the laboratory employee’s main professional activity. In this case, if the driving time limits specified in § 2 Para. 2 Z 7 LP-VO were not exceeded, there would be no driving obligation.

First of all, a distinction must be made between the application of the exemptions in the LP-VO between tractors and jeeps.

 

As towing vehicles, tractors are covered by the exemption pursuant to Section 2 (2) Z 2 LP-VO. However, this exemption is limited to vehicles with a maximum permissible speed of max. 40 km/h. There is no obligation to keep a steering log for these vehicles.
In the meantime, experience has shown that more and more tractors are being registered with higher maximum permissible speeds, for which the above-mentioned exception does not apply. Drivers of tractors with a maximum speed of over 40 km/h are obliged to keep a steering log.
For jeeps, it must be clarified whether they have been registered as M1 (passenger car) or as N1 (vehicle for the carriage of goods with a maximum permissible mass of no more than 3,500 kg) according to the registration certificate.
If an M1 registration exists, an exemption from the steering log obligation must be assessed in accordance with § 2 Para. 2 Z 5 LP-VO. The current wording of this provision pursuant to Federal Law Gazette II No. 2022/166 must also be taken into account:
§ 2 (2) Drivers of the following vehicles are exempt from the obligation to keep a driving log:
5. other motor vehicles within the meaning of § 2 Para. 1 Z 5 and 6 KFG 1967 (passenger cars, combination vehicles), if these are not used for commercial passenger transport and driving the vehicle is not the main activity for the driver, […].
The question arises as to whether or not driving the jeep used to clear snow is the employee’s main activity. Here, the written employment contract is only to be considered secondarily, but primarily the activity actually performed (which does not necessarily have to correspond to the written agreement). If an employee’s main activity on a working day is clearing snow with a Jeep, whereby driving the vehicle is the actual main activity, there is an obligation to keep a driving log on this day in any case.
If an N1 permit is available (also possible from a tax law perspective), an exception to the driving log obligation must be assessed in accordance with Section 2 (2) no. 7 LP-VO.
7. motor vehicles for the carriage of goods with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 tons, if driving a motor vehicle is not the driver’s main professional activity and the driving time during a calendar week
a) is less than two hours per day, or
b) less than four hours per day, provided that the weekly driving time is less than one fifth of the weekly working time (§ 3 para. 1 AZG).
This raises the question of both the main professional activity and the duration of the daily or weekly driving time. In other words, if the employees are used to clear snow (it can be assumed that driving is not the main professional activity of the snow clearer) with the N1 jeep and

  • the daily driving time is more than 2 hours,
  • the driving time within a week is more than 4 hours on individual days or
  • the driving time within a week is more than 2 hours but less than 4 hours on individual days, but the weekly driving time is more than one fifth of the weekly working time (= 8 hours)

it is mandatory to keep a driving log.

In order to answer this question, it is first necessary to check which vehicle is used to transport the patient:

Will

  1. the patient transport is carried out with an ambulance in accordance with ÖNORM EN 1789:2020 “Rescue service vehicles and their equipment – Ambulances” (including equipment with blue light and siren) and

  2. the ambulance is always accompanied by a paramedic,

there is no cab or hire car business within the meaning of Section 3 (2) and (3) of the Occasional Transportation Act and therefore no commercial transportation of goods. As a result, the exception of § 2 Para. 2 No. 5 LP-VO applies to these patient transports and there is no obligation to keep a driving log.

VEHICLES THAT ARE EXEMPT FROM THE STEERING LOG REQUIREMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH LP-VO (SECTION 2(2))

  • Self-propelled machines

  • Tractors whose maximum permitted speed does not exceed 40 km/h

  • Vehicles from the motor vehicle industry, the vehicle trade and the vehicle trade during transfer and test drives

  • Motor vehicles used for the commercial transportation of passengers and equipped with a taximeter

  • other motor vehicles within the meaning of § 2 Para. 1 Z 5 and 6 KFG 1967(passenger cars, estate cars) if these are not used for commercial passenger transportation and driving the vehicle is not the driver’s main activity.

  • Special vehicles for the transportation of money or valuables in accordance with § 5 Para. 2 of the Driver Exemption Ordinance – L-AVO, Federal Law Gazette II No. 10/2010

  • Motor vehicles for the transportation of goods with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 t, if driving a motor vehicle is not the driver’s main professional activity and the driving time during a calendar week is a) less than two hours per day, or b) less than four hours per day, provided that the weekly driving time is less than one fifth of the weekly working time (§ 3 para. 1 AZG).

LINKS TO FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE STEERING PROTOCOL REGULATION

FORMS OF THE LABOR INSPECTORATES FOR DOWNLOAD

Here you will find a summary of valid legal regulations for drivers and the new driving log. In the event that the electronic driving log cannot be kept (smartphone forgotten), there are samples or templates for the driving log that you should simply keep in your vehicle:

  • Instructions for drivers on proper recording

  • Output of printed driving logs if electronic recording is not possible

  • Check the driving logs for completeness at least once a month and make a note in the register

  • Obligation to retain for at least 24 months, sorted by driver and date

From 01.01.2019, drivers must keep the new personal logbook in accordance with Section 17 (4 to 6) AZG in the form of a driving log based on the Driving Log Ordinance (LPVO). Companies must have their drivers keep a driving log if a tachograph is NOT installed in the vehicle (or if it is not used) and there is NO exemption from the obligation to keep a driving log.

Vehicles with a maximum weight of up to 7.5t for the transportation of material or machinery within a radius of 100km from the company’s location have so far been exempt from the tachograph obligation, but must keep a steering log unless another exemption from the steering log obligation applies.