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https://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/events

REAL-TIME INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR MONITORING COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SAFETY

Over 50 million commercial driver licenses are actively being used in North America. These professional drivers represent only a small percentage of the total driving population. They also are involved in far fewer accidents per capita than any other group of drivers. However, they log significantly more hours behind the wheel than the typical commuter. As a result of their driving habits, the potential for accidents from driver fatigue or carelessness is increased. The vast number of drivers adheres to all the local, state, national, and international regulations. The safety regulations for commercial vehicle operators in the United States are included in a manual that has over 450 pages of regulations, laws, and guidelines that every operator, owner, and enforcement officer must know. Interstate commercial vehicles represent less than 5 percent of the traffic populiation; yet when trucks are involved in an accident, there is a much higher fatality rate. Regulations have been established for monitoring vehicle safety. Vehicles not meeting these requirements can be stopped and ordered to repair any faults before proceeding. Since downtime means a loss of revenues for the operators, significant efforts are made to ensure that vehicles are in peak operating condition. An information system called SafetyNet has been established to assist in identifying commercial carriers with a history of violating safety regulations. This information is uploaded to a nationwide service. The violation data is then made available throughout the continent. This data includes information about the type and severity of the violation. With a real-time information system, enforcement officers can identify vehicles, carriers, and drivers with a history of violations. The vehicle license plate has been used for over 90 years to provide unique vehicle identification by automatically reading the commercial vehicle's license plate number, and providing a link to the information system. This approach does not require special equipment for the vehicle. It does, however, when integrated with classification products, weigh-in-motion, and other measurement methods, such as speed and height, provide details about specific vehicles at highway speeds.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Five volumes of papers and one volume of abstracts comprise the published set of conference materials.
  • Corporate Authors:

    VERTIS

    TORANOMOM 34 MORI BUILDING 1-25-5
    TORANOMON, MINATOKU, TOKYO 105  Japan 
  • Authors:
    • GIBSON, T G
  • Conference:
  • Publication Date: 1995-11

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Pagination: p. 938

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00722016
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Volume 2
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 23 1996 12:00AM