Tachograph icons
Recognise activity symbols and respond properly to warnings or unfamiliar displays.
Open the guide →A practical visual reference for professional drivers
Use this library to recognise common road restrictions, tachograph symbols, vehicle plates, marker boards and enforcement terms before deciding what to do next.
Professional drivers encounter signs, display icons, vehicle plates, marker boards and enforcement paperwork throughout a working day. Some give an immediate instruction. Others describe a restriction, vehicle condition or legal status that must be understood before the journey continues.
Always read the complete sign, display or document. Similar-looking symbols can carry different instructions depending on the wording, number, unit, vehicle type or surrounding road layout.
Regulated sign and symbol artwork is reproduced only from official reusable libraries. Each detailed guide identifies its source and review date. The library supports training, but does not replace the Highway Code, current GOV.UK guidance, equipment instructions or your employer’s procedures.
Recognise activity symbols and respond properly to warnings or unfamiliar displays.
Open the guide →Check travelling height and act safely when a planned route is unsuitable.
Open the guide →Read weight limits, access restrictions and supplementary plates in full.
Open the guide →Locate the relevant plate and understand which weights apply to the combination.
Open the guide →Include prescribed markings and boards in the appropriate vehicle checks.
Open the guide →Preserve the notice, report the details and follow the examiner’s instructions.
Read the overview →Pass defect and offence wording to the transport office accurately.
Read the overview →Recognise correspondence that may affect vocational entitlement or require a response.
Read the overview →Drivers should not identify a sign or symbol from colour or shape alone. Read the complete wording, number, unit and any supplementary plate. For a display message or enforcement document, read the full screen or notice and retain the original wording when reporting it.
If the meaning is uncertain, stop only in a safe and lawful place. Contact the transport office before continuing on an unsuitable or restricted route, and follow the current official guidance and approved instructions for the vehicle or equipment concerned.
Know the vehicle’s actual travelling height, including the trailer, load and equipment. Check the in-cab height indicator when changing trailers or loads. Approach a restriction early enough to read the full sign and choose a safe alternative. Never continue simply because another lorry appears to have passed beneath the structure.
A restriction may refer to gross vehicle weight, axle weight or another stated limit. Access conditions may apply only to certain vehicles, times or purposes. Read every supplementary plate and confirm the vehicle’s plated and actual weights rather than relying on an estimate.
Recognise the symbols for driving, other work, availability and rest or break. The selected mode must reflect the activity actually being carried out. Read the complete display when a warning or unfamiliar symbol appears and follow the approved instructions for the unit fitted to the vehicle.
Know where the relevant plates are located and which figures apply to the combination being driven. A plate may show maximum permitted weight, train weight and individual axle limits. Ask the transport office for clarification if a plate is damaged, unreadable, missing or inconsistent with the vehicle documents.
Include required reflective markings, warning plates and marker boards in the appropriate vehicle checks. They should be correctly positioned, secure, clean enough to work and not obscured by doors, equipment or the load.
Read the notice carefully and follow the examiner’s instructions. Do not move or continue using the vehicle unless movement is permitted and the stated conditions have been met. Report the location, vehicle and trailer details, stated reason, timing and instructions to the transport office. Retain every notice and inspection document.
Pass the precise wording to the transport office. Where it is safe to do so, record the component, axle, side, warning displayed, examiner’s description and any restriction on movement. Do not reinterpret an allegation on behalf of the operator.
Correspondence about conduct, vocational entitlement, representations, evidence or a hearing should not be ignored. Read every page, note any response date, keep copies and notify the appropriate manager promptly.
Read the complete instruction, know the vehicle’s travelling height and relevant weights, report restrictions accurately and retain tachograph or enforcement paperwork.
Discuss tailored driver guidanceRegulated graphics are taken only from official libraries that permit reuse, including the Department for Transport traffic sign artwork and official legislation sources. We record the source, licence and any permitted format conversion. We do not redraw or generate regulated signs.
No. Use the current Highway Code, GOV.UK tachograph guidance, the approved instructions for the equipment fitted and your employer’s procedures. This library helps drivers find and understand those topics.
Use a relevant section during induction, vehicle familiarisation or a toolbox talk, then connect it to the operator’s own vehicles, routes, reporting contacts and approved procedures.
Need instructions tailored to your fleet? Contact Driver Handbooks.
Get a clear recommendation from transport managers and compliance specialists with more than 20 years of experience, including DVSA investigations, Public Inquiries and Traffic Commissioner hearings.
