Kilometer Charging System for heavy goods vehicles in Belgium: fixed installation of OBU avoids fines and saves time
- VDO offers fixed installation of On Board Units for trouble-free toll settlement
- Quick and easy ordering – installation in only three steps
- Use vehicle downtimes for installation during tachograph testing or between Christmas and New Year
Villingen-Schwenningen, December 8, 2015. April 1, 2016 will see the launch of the Kilometer Charging System for heavy goods vehicles with a gross combination weight rating over 3.5 metric tons in Belgium. From then on, all relevant trucks, domestic and foreign, must be equipped with an On Board Unit (OBU). When built in to the vehicle, Satellic’s OBU offers many benefits, including time savings, more safety and comfort and the prevention of heavy fines. Fleet operators can now have the OBUs installed fast and easily through the certified workshop network of VDO, a Satellic partner. VDO is a corporate brand of the international automotive supplier Continental, which manufactures the OBU for the Belgian Kilometer Charging System and has many years of experience in the production of such devices.
Carefree driving in Belgium with a built-in OBU
The most decisive advantage of a fixed installation unlike a cigarette-lighter plug installed OBU, is the built-in or fixed OBU automatically switches itself on when the vehicle engine starts. This avoids substantial fines as the driver is required to comply with the regulations outlined by the regional constituencies. Because of this if a driver forgets to turn on the OBU or if the OBU is not connected, the transport company is automatically fined 1000 euros. A fixed installation is also recommended for vehicles that regularly or only occasionally transport dangerous goods (ADR and ATEX vehicles). With this and only instance the rechargeable battery must be removed from the OBU, the OBU then doesn’t have to be removed from the vehicle during loading and unloading.
In all other fixed installations Satellic recommends to leave the rechargeable battery in the OBU so the OBU doesn’t have to do a full reboot at each start of the journey.
Fixed installation means significantly shorter vehicle downtimes
Another reason why a fixed installation can be worthwhile for carriers is that a built-in OBU considerably reduces vehicle downtimes. The driver doesn’t have to go to a Service Point, register the vehicle, get the OBU, install the OBU in the vehicle and return the OBU again. “A built-in installation means that the upcoming toll in Belgium will cause no problems for fleets and carriers. They will have a permanently functioning, easy-to-operate system, which also ensures that the driver makes fewer potentially punishable incorrect entries,” says Dr. Lutz Scholten, Head of the Tachographs, Telematics and Services segment at Continental.
Quickly ordered and installed during downtimes between Christmas and New Year
Getting an OBU permanently installed in a vehicle is very simple – it only takes three steps. If the OBU is obtained at a Service Point or on the Satellic website at www.satellic.be, the installation can be booked at a nearby installation partner selected in the VDO Webshop (www.vdo-services.com). The selected certified workshop then installs the OBU. The customer can buy an installation voucher when ordering a unit in the VDO Webshop, so when he arrives at the workshop, everything has already been paid – there’s no additional paperwork to be filled out. VDO recommends OBU installation during the usual truck downtimes – during a tachograph inspection or the next workshop appointment, or during the holiday period from Christmas to New Year.
