What it means: the last session of your driver card in card slot 1 wasn't closed correctly, usually because of a power interruption right when the card came out.
Can you keep driving: yes, but log manually while it persists.
What fault 44 means
Every time you insert and remove your card, the tachograph opens and closes a "session" linking your activity to your card. Fault 44 means the previous session wasn't closed properly.
The classic cause is a power cut at the exact moment of removal: the engine cuts out, the battery gets disconnected, or there's a brief voltage drop while the unit is finishing the closure. The unit remembers the closure was incomplete and reports it at the next opportunity.
The difference with 43
43 and 44 often appear together and get mixed up for that reason. 43 is about the state of the card or the slot during a session, swapped, missing, or an open interlock. 44 is specifically about how the previous session ended, what happened the last time the card came out. With 44 the card itself is usually fine, it's the record of the closing moment that's incomplete.
Can you keep driving
Yes, with the same two obligations as any malfunction: the company has it repaired as soon as possible, and you log manually.
What to log right away
While the tachograph is unserviceable or malfunctioning, the driver shall mark data enabling him to be identified (name, driver card or driving licence number), including a signature, as well as the information for the various periods of time which are no longer recorded or printed out correctly by the tachograph: (a) on the record sheet or sheets, or (b) on a temporary sheet to be attached to the record sheet or to be kept together with the driver card.
Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, Article 37(2).
Start the manual record straight away: your name, driver card or licence number, a signature, and your driving and rest times from the moment the fault appeared.
Who has to fix it, and by when
In the event of the breakdown or faulty operation of a tachograph, the transport undertaking shall have it repaired by an approved fitter or workshop, as soon as circumstances permit. If the vehicle is unable to return to the transport undertaking's premises within a period of one week calculated from the day of the breakdown or of the discovery of defective operation, the repair shall be carried out en route.
Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, Article 37(1). Accessed 25 September 2026.
The repair obligation sits with the company, not with you.
What it costs
The regulation doesn't set a price for the repair itself. In practice a single unclosed session is usually cleared by the unit on the next normal card insertion; a workshop visit is only needed if the message keeps recurring. Keep your manual record until it's resolved and logged.
Also read
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 on tachographs in road transport, Article 37, consolidated version. EUR-Lex
- VDO DTCO 4.0, manufacturer's official Message summaries: code 044 — "Card not closed (drawer 1)".
Legal text quoted verbatim from the consolidated English version published on EUR-Lex, accessed 25 September 2026. VDO does not publish an official fault-code glossary in English; the plain-language description above is our own translation of the manufacturer's documentation, the legal citation is not.
Stuck? See where there is still room.
Drivers report what they see themselves. Parking full, traffic, hazard, roadworks. Open the app and stop driving alone.