FMCSA Finishes Initial Testing of Technology for Wireless Roadside Vehicle Inspections
By Sarah Godfrey, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Sept. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it successfully completed phase-one testing of wireless roadside inspection technology for commercial vehicles.
Officials said the technology could one day enable law enforcement officers to capture driver, vehicle and other vital information while trucks are in motion, providing a more targeted approach to the inspection process.
“The trial confirmed our general assumption that this technology works and allows inspectors to inspect trucks and buses at highway speeds,” the agency said in a statement e-mailed to Transport Topics.
FMCSA said it conducted testing May through August at inspection stations along interstates 40 and 81 in eastern Tennessee.
On Aug. 7, it held a demonstration at an inspection station in Green County, Tenn. During that demo, FMCSA said, a truck transmitted sample data to both a nearby vehicle and an inspection facility. An electronic onboard recorder and a transponder collected, formatted and prepared the data for transmission via an electronic communications link.
FMCSA partnered with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, mobile communications firm PeopleNet, Commercial Carrier Consultants, Greene Coach, Air-Weigh Systems and TechnoCom for the first phase of the testing.
Although the truck and automobile involved in the Aug. 7 demonstration were parked, Gary Capps, a transportation engineer with Oak Ridge National Laboratory said, the technology has been tested on both a truck and a motor coach traveling as fast as 55 mph.
FMCSA said WRI technology builds on current electronic systems that check truck weights at highway speeds and identify vehicles belonging to participating carriers. The WRI system also can verify vehicle identification numbers, hours-of-service information and other data.
“There are data privacy and regulatory issues to work through, but the technology can provide wireless transmission of data,” said Brian McLaughlin, executive vice president of marketing, product and sales for PeopleNet, who was present at the demonstration.
FMCSA said this technology could help enforcement officers conduct targeted screenings at a time when the number of trucks on the roads is increasing, but the number of inspectors and inspection facilities isn’t.
“Ideally, you could identify a truck on the highway so it bypasses weigh stations,” said Jim Tipka, vice president of engineering at American Trucking Associations.
“The program is not trying to automate enforcement,” said Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. “It’s an additional tool to assist officers, extending their reach.
While research has focused on enforcement, the technology also may prove to be of use to carriers.
“Once a vehicle is equipped to broadcast and communicate through the technology, fleets will be able to capture important data about equipment, which leads to prognostics,” said Tipka.
Capps said he did not believe the potential adoption of the wireless inspection program in the years ahead necessarily would mean an investment in new equipment.
“There should be an incentive for the trucking community to put the technology in their trucks,” Capps said.
He added that there is a possible option of modifying existing electronic onboard recording devices to broadcast data.
“Clearly, [the wireless program] wouldn’t be as well-received if one had to have yet another piece of technogy,” Capps said.
