Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/649008
42 | Overdrive | March 2016 TOMORROW'S TRUCKER violations, and the supercomputer flags the carrier as shut down, triggering mes- sages to its operators to find a good stop- ping point in 15 minutes to shut down or get automatically shut down. Even if they aren't this far-reaching, regulatory applications are the next logical step in the wireless equipping of trucks. CBs, Qualcomm and satel- lite radio are old hat. The last decade has seen widespread introduction of electronic logging devices, remote diag- nostics and many GPS-based functions, linking the truck with maintenance personnel at owner-operators' shops of choice and carriers' back offices. Now on-truck sensors monitoring critical safety systems are already a technological reality, from brake stroke to tire pressure and more. Add to that telematics units in a growing number of trucks, it's only a matter of time before a truck passing a scale or a mobile unit of an enforcement officer will automati- cally flag a violation or record a clean inspection. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Wireless Roadside Inspection research project is geared specifically toward, in the words of its Phase II final report, "demonstrating the feasibility and value of electronically assessing truck and motorcoach driver and vehicle safety at least 25 times more often than is possible using only physical roadside inspections." That would be a lot of automated inspections, though there could be a slight upside to it, given the scoring realities of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The feds have a data problem when it comes to reliably scoring most small fleets and owner-operators, as evidenced by congressional and private studies and investigations. More observations of car- riers – in the form of inspections – could help solve that problem. That will happen in 15 years, says Jay Thompson of Transportation Business Associates. "What we'll be able to have is sensors on certain things that will throw a red flag for a closer look," he says. For enforcement officers and own- er-operators alike, such systems present advantages other than improved CSA accuracy: correcting problems more quickly and reducing the delays and has- sles that come with roadside inspections. Phase III of FMCSA's Wireless Roadside Inspection research effort is under way, involving trucks equipped with electronic logs and telematics devic- es. These transmit operator hours and credentials to the roadside for inspection without the necessity of stopping. The Wireless Roadside system also envisions a broader approach, including the trans- mission and inspection of vehicle systems data, though the Phase III test is limited to driver operational/credentials data. Already, inspection technology is mak- ing the screening of carriers for their most-recent inspection activity and other metrics a reality. In an underreported item in the FAST Act highway bill passed late last year, Congress required FMCSA to perform due diligence on the Wireless Roadside program's potential conflicts with existing screening technologies, nota- bly those of weigh station bypass compa- nies Drivewyze and PrePass. Drivewyze is following up on its 2013 demonstration of how available tech- nologies could be used to populate a Level 3 inspection report with data for an official "e-inspection" of a truck out- fitted with electronic logs. Brian Heath, president and chief executive officer of Drivewyze, says his company's own test of what he calls "expedited Level 3 inspections" is getting under way this spring in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Today, as Heath notes, it's impossible to file an official Level 3 without officer interaction with the driver, given that Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance guidelines for such inspections continue to be based on the realities as they've been for years. Some things will remain the purview of hands-on enforcement. "Assessing drug and alcohol and whether a driver is wearing the seatbelt – you can't really automate that," Heath says, though in-cab breathalyzers, in use in some European countries, could accomplish part of that. For the Drivewyze trial, participat- ing trucks will be equipped with the Drivewyze PreClear bypass system and electronic logging devices capable of transmitting information to roadside. Via those devices, "all of the data elements on the Level 3 form will be pre-filled – the inspection officer will then walk up to the truck with a [mostly] filled-out inspection form, and they'll be able to Pros and cons of wireless or electronic inspections 72% 13% More drawbacks than benefits 50% None, just another form of today's inspection system 22% Potential to save time/generate more clean inspections 10% More inspections = greater safety 3% Only beneficial if it's a voluntary program rather than the standard for inspections 7% Not sure, depends on what form safety credits/violation policy might take 8% OverdriveOnline.com poll In February polling, 72 percent of Overdrive readers saw either little difference from today's inspection sys- tem or more potential drawbacks than benefits for FMCSA's Wireless Roadside efforts.