U.S. enforcement to take roadside inspections high-tech

WASHINGTON, — U.S. trucking regulators want to automate commercial vehicle roadside safety inspections and is inviting industry to give suggestions.

With commercial traffic expected to rise 25 percent on U.S. highways over the next 10 years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is developing new inspection concepts-of-operation that leverage new technologies, result in more thorough performance-based inspections, and improve cost effectiveness is a high priority for FMCSA.

In an attempt to achieve more “thorough performance-based inspections,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants comments, suggestions and creative ideas on new operational concepts, tools, and technologies for monitoring and regulating the “condition of the in-use commercial vehicle fleet, as well as for auditing and enforcing driver and operational-related safety practices, including hours of service, proper driver credentialing, and other safety aspects of commercial vehicle equipment and operations.”

Comments are due before October 17, 2005.

The agency says new technologies such as advanced sensor and on-board diagnostics as well as wireless communications offer the potential for dramatically improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the roadside commercial vehicle safety inspection process.

The FMCSA adds, however, that this docket item is not directly related to its proposed rulemaking on electronic on-board recorders — otherwise know as “black boxes” — which the agency plans to publish early next year. Although information collected from this activity will serve as one of many inputs into EOBR and other inspection and regulatory concepts.

In addition, the FMCSA is working with Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations in researching use of new technologies for vehicle weight enforcement such as various weigh-in-motion (WIM) technologies.

Some technologies FMCSA is researching, include:

— Accurately monitoring trucks by on-board sensors, as well as usefulness of wireless sensors for various components like tire condition; weight; lighting and exhaust; brake condition; HOS; suspension, and steering.

— Feasibility of safety data messages that could be transmitted via wireless communication to the roadside for the purposes of automated screening and/or inspection of commercial vehicles

— A fault/no-fault for each system based on predetermined “rules” or algorithms that define “fault” using system-specific performance measures.

— A “snapshot” of recently recorded performance or operational values being measured for each system (e.g., data stored within the last 30 minutes of operation).

The FMCSA is also asking industry thoughts on the challenges and potential benefits for implementing any such technology, including:

Read the complete docket item at the FMCSA’s website linked below. Comments may be submitted to FMCSA by faxing 202/493-2251 or at www.fmcsa.dot.org

Cite FMCSA Docket Number FMCSA-2005-22097.