ITS and Commercial Vehicle Operations

CEE 582 Ed McCormack

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What is ITS CVO?

Partnership of the public and private sectors focused on developing ways to

improve freight movement

NationallyInternationallyIntermodally

With emphasis on technology, systems integration and trucks

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Vision: Safe and Efficient Shipping Operations

Electronic TagMobile Comm

Safety Equipment

InternationalBorder ElectronicClearance

ElectronicClearance

AutomatedFleet & FreightAdministration

AutomatedInspections

On-board ComputerOn-board Monitors

On-board Navigation

“Paperless” Vehicle

SeamlessIntermodalOperations

WIM

HAZMAT

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CVO (i.e. Trucks) in Perspective

Nationally 7.8 million commercial trucks, driven 2 billion miles and which carry 75% all the nation’s freight (in value)

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ITS CVO Programs Involve Many Players

• State Agencies

• Carriers

• Technology & Service Providers

• Professional & Trade Associations

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

• Border Enforcement Agencies

• Canada/Mexico

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CVO - Interstate Trucking

• Commercial trucking operates across state lines

• Each state has its own laws and taxes– Within federal limitations on interstate

commerce

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State Regulations

• Vehicle size and weight limits• Fuel tax• Vehicle registration• Weight distance taxes• Operating authority (proof of

insurance, business competition)• Temporary versus annual permits• Safety – vehicle inspections

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Different states – different laws

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Trucks do not Operate Like Cars

• To enter Washington a trucker needs– Vehicle licensing, permits. – Fuel license (IFTA). – Single state registration

• Have to stop at ports of entry, weigh stations, and for roadside inspections

• Are inspected for mechanical safety at terminal

• Their books can be audited

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Truck Weights

• Truckers want to fill trucks because they make more per load but all states regulate weight because but overweight trucks:– Damage pavement– Have problems with bridges– Need greater turning radii– Have safety and public perceptions concerns

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Regulation Requires Enforcement

• Each trucking firm has to file taxes in each state in which it operates

• Paperwork is enormous

• Enforcement is expensive for both trucking firms and states

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Results of Enforcement

• Taxes owed depend on the mileage driven in each state

• Firms must track all mileage

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Enforcement

• At weigh stations• At roadside stops

• By audit

• By inspection at the maintenance facility

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Clearinghouses Make it Easier

• IRP – International Registration Plan

• IFTA– International Fuel Tax Agreement

• CVSA– Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance– Motor Carrier Safety Assurance Program

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ITS

• ITS is designed to make it still easier

• Use electronics and databases to – Make administration / enforcement of

laws easier– Reduce paperwork handling costs /

duplication– Allow concentration of enforcement effort

on “bad” trucks

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CVISN

• Commercial Vehicles Information System Network

• Part of national program to encourage use of ITS to improve performance of CVO

• Washington is a leading state

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What is CVISN?

• CVISN is a collection of information systems and communications networks

• CVISN provides a integration framework that enables the government, motor carriers, and others engaged in CVO to exchange information and conduct business transactions electronically

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Vision: Electronic Business Transactions

CVISN CoreInfrastructure

Carrier Base State

Shipper, Bank, Insurer,Lessor, Service Bureau

StandardElectronic

Data Interchange(EDI)

Transactions

Credentials, Taxes, Safety Records,

HAZMAT, Insurance,Shipments,Payments

Interstate Transactions

Canada

Mexico

WIRELINE Wide Area Communications

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CVISN

Benefits of CVISN Deployment– Safety (top priority) – Cost Savings (second priority)– Customer Satisfaction– Other Indirect Benefits – Mobility,

Environment

• Predominate use is at weigh stations

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Traditional Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Sites

Open Sign

OPEN/CLOSEDSIGN

TO STATIC SCALE AND INSPECTION

STATION

MAINLINE

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Traditional Enforcement

• More trucks arrive than scales can process quickly

– Shut off scales (miss illegals at the back of convoys)

– Back trucks onto freeway (safety hazard)

– Turn “open” sign on & off (random results)

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Modern Scale System (1)

• Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) tag attached to truck

• Tag relates to database– Registration tax status

• Including allowable weights– Fuel tax status– Last safety inspection– Company safety record– Permits

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Modern Scale System (2)

• Truck runs over scale (weigh in motion)

• Truck AVI tag is read

• Look up table compares database information to weights

• Decision is made to bring in / pass the truck

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Commercial Vehicles Systems: Weigh-in-Motion

SENSORS AND ELECTRONICS

OPEN/CLOSEDSIGN

AVI NOTIFICATION

STATION

TO STATIC SCALE AND INSPECTION

STATION

PRECLEARED TRUCKS CONTINUE ON MAINLINE

AVI NOTIFICATIONSTATION

TRACKINGSENSORS

WIM Scales

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AVI Tag Used in Washington

• Transponder at 916 MHz tag• Cost $50 in Washington State• 5 year battery life• Red or green

light with a beep• Active tag (as opposed

to passive)• Dedicated Short Range

Communications devices(DSRC)

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WIM Scale Technology• Types of scales

– Bending plate– Deep pit load cell– Piezo cable– Capacitance mat /strip– Piezo quartz– Fiber optics– Bridge WIM– Culvert WIM (CULWAY)– Buried steel frame / strain system

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WIM

• All WIM scales suffer from the same limitations – dynamics (bouncing wheels)

• Different designs do have advantages / disadvantages based on– Cost – Accuracy– Expected lifespan

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WIM

• Consequently:

• WIM can NOT be used directly for enforcement.

• It can only be used to sort probable over-weights from not likely over weights

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WIM

• The key is reducing vehicle dynamics

• Next best alternative – account for dynamics with multiple sensors – longer time on the scale

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WIM Scales

• Ramp sorter

• Main line sorter

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ScaleHouse

WIMScale By-pass Lane

Enforcement

Ramp Sorter Scale

DirectionalSign

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Ramp Scales

• Slower speed = more time on scale = better accuracy

• Scales can be repaired and maintained more easily

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Ramp Scales

• Extra ramps (by-pass lanes) require land and paving = expensive

• Requires even “good” trucks to slow down and enter scale site

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Mainline Sorter Scale

ScaleHouse

WIMScale

AVI Readers

DirectionalSign

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Main Line Scales

• Do not need to slow down trucks• Less disruption to trucking /

roadway• Can reduce size of weight station

ramps (lower cost)• Easier to retrofit existing scale

sites

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Main Line Scales

• Increased risk of “evasion” through by-pass– Intentional– Unintentional

• More difficult to install and maintain• Subject to greater level of dynamic

impacts• Harder to communicate with drivers• Officers can’t examine passing trucks

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WIM In Washington

Cle ElumPOE

SpokanePOE

StanwoodBryant

Bow HillPOE

Federal Way

Nisqually

Kelso

RidgefieldPOE

PlymouthPOE

FederalWay

Everett

Cle Elum

I82

Deployed

2001-2003

2003-2005

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CVISN Status

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Interstate CVO

• Advantages:– Screening increases the effectiveness of

officers– Decreases the time delay on legal

truckers– Decreases emissions and noise– Improves fuel usage– Lowers merging / diverging movements– Allows more thorough credentials check

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Interstate CVO• Disadvantages

– Costly infrastructure– Timing of database updates is difficult– Notification is difficult– WIM is expensive and requires lots of

maintenance– Needs large numbers of participants to

really gain operational benefits– Little incentive for many truckers to

participate

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Interstate CVO

• Disadvantages– Officers can’t do visual inspections of

“passed” trucks• Implementation issue• Lowering of standards?• Won’t detect “problems” with “good”

firms until it is too late• Can’t see the condition of the driver• Drivers don’t have the excuse to stop and

take a break

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Interstate CVO

• Implementation Issues– Agency interaction – Database ownership and control

• (effected by …)

– Who benefits?– Who pays?– Privacy (see control of database)– Interoperability

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CVISN Benefits

• American Trucking Association– Cost Benefit analysis (before and after CVISN)

resulted in a 16 to 1 return on investment to the motor carrier

• Washington State– IT Feasibility Study and Cost Benefit Analysis found

for every dollar spent on CVISN, the citizens received $1.28 in return benefits

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AVI Tags Functional Issues

• One way or two way?– How do you signal the trucker?

• In vehicle tag?• Overhead sign?• Roadside VMS?• Some combination?

• Do you store credentials electronically on the tag?

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AVI Tag

• How do you connect the tag ID to the various database records?– Modify each existing database?– Creation of new database?– Who’s credentials are you using (this

trip)?• Independent trucker working for major

carrier

– Can the legacy database be changed?

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AVI Tag Readers

• Operational speed – Speed of vehicle– Speed of transaction

• Connection to databases• Connection to WIM device• Need to track truck from one

location to another

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Database Integration / Architecture

• Does the roadside reader connect to the DOL database directly?

• Does the DOL database download the necessary data to the enforcement site?– What about when the “home” IRP state is

not the state with the enforcement location?

• Are there security concerns with making the DOL data accessible?

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Agency Integration

• Up to ten state agencies per state must cooperate

• Agency buy-in and support is essential

• A very difficult task if this is not a priority within the organization

• Trust – often doesn’t exist– Regulatory agency Vs. firms Vs. drivers

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Database

• Who owns the data from each enforcement site?– State?– Trucking company?– Private contractor?– How can that data be used?

• Audit?• Speed enforcement?• By the trucking company?

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Who Benefits? Who Pays?

• Are the benefits of the system mostly obtained by – the public sector, or – the private sector?

• Who should pay for the infrastructure and operations costs?

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Who Benefits?

• The benefits in congested / high volume locations are different than in low volume areas

– California– Wyoming

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Who Pays?

• Is system for the public agency benefit or the trucker’s benefit?

• Is the system mandatory or voluntary?– Payment issue

• A requirement?• Is it intended to be a private business?

– Participation issue• Need incentives to get participation?

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Groups in the WIM Business

Greenlight: Oregon

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Prepass

• Private business – Has public partners

• Installs and operates system for states– $0.99 a bypass or $15 a month fee for

unlimited bypasses– Owns / controls the data– Does not allow us of their transponders in

other systems

• 250,000 trucks enrolled

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NORPASS

• More “public” agency oriented approach

• Truckers buy transponders from states (~$50)

• Free use of the system to truckers • Supported directly by states• Transponder works in Prepass• 56,000 trucks enrolled

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Greenlight

• Oregon’s version (works with NORPASS)

• Political disagreements with other states– Mostly over control of and access to data

• 25,000 trucks enrolled

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Interoperability

• Will these group’s systems operate seamlessly? (Not so far)

• Technical integration exists (tags)• Back office integration does not

work – Access/control to data– Transaction fees

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Privacy

• Who gets access to data?• Who gets to know where the

truck/trucker is?– Independent trucker– Hired driver– Company– Shipper– State regulatory agencies (WSP)

• Effect on participation / political acceptance of system

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Interoperability

• CVISN tag can be used for tolls

• Same technology, different backroom operations

• However what about other DSRC applications?

• Different frequencies have advantages and problems

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Transponder Standards Issues

• CVISN tag is 916 megahertz• Proposed 5.9 gigahertz for DSRC has

better ability to transfer more information at speeds

• Resistance to this change • Can Federal government force a

transponder standard?• Manufacturers driven by existing and

future customers and will not make the tag unless it will pay

• Europe has a different standard

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Truck Warning (CVISN Tag)

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Other CVO ITS

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Commercial Fleet Management Increasingly

Common • GPS with cellular connection • On-board computers with sensors on

brakes, lights, tires, etcused for

• Equipment and load tracking • Dispatching and en-route information• Driver management• Maintenance• Emergency call signal • Fuel tax reporting (?)

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Global Positioning System

• System uses 24 satellites

• Signal from 4 satellites are used to compute positions in three dimensions (plus 1 for a time check

• Ground based master control system keeps system correct

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GPS uses triangulation to find location

Source: Geoplane

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ITS and Hazardous Materials

• GPS used for shipment tracking and monitoring

• Electronic placard/manifest - if incident occurs responders know what materials they have to deal with

• Travel information for re-routing during incidents

• Stolen vehicle alerts, geo-fencing, remote vehicle disabling

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Summary – Trucks and ITS• Electronic clearance

– Vehicle weigh, status, and cargo

• Automated roadside safety inspection– Sensor differentiate between vehicles and look at safety data

• Onboard safety monitoring systems– Provide information about load balance, doors, temperature

tire pressure, crash avoidance

• Automated administrative processes– Improve government taxation and regulation process

• Commercial Fleet Management– Real time route, driver, vehicle, and cargo information

• Hazardous materials incident response– Tracking, information about cargo contents