Roadside inspections are a fairly manual, hands-on and laborious process, but technology has enabled enforcement officers to speed up the process and improve accuracy and safety in the process.
Iteris, a provider of smart mobility infrastructure management, is the largest provider of commercial vehicle operations (CVO) solutions nationwide, with current deployments in 22 states as well as two electronic screening providers serving more than half of the country.
The company recently announced a new and expanded contract with the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of State Police (NHSP) for Iteris' software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. The state has been using the tech-enabled inspection suite since 2017.
Under the terms of the multi-year SaaS contract, Iteris will extend NHSP’s use of Iteris Inspect for an additional five years and provide its CVIEW-Plus data services to support the state’s goals of obtaining compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Innovative Technology Deployment (ITD) program, improving goods movement, and enhancing safety for truck drivers, law enforcement and roadside inspectors.
"With Iteris Inspect, approximately 70-80% of the data is pre-populated from state and federal databases," said Delaine Adkins, project manager, Commercial Vehicle Operations. "The inspector inputs the remaining data – such as cargo details, brake measurements, etc., manually at the roadside."
Iteris Inspect, powered by CVIEW-Plus data services, populates carrier information (name, address, etc.), vehicle description data, location (if a stored location, such as a port of entry), and driver’s data, along with other information. Having all that data already on the form before the inspection really begins, Adkins said, reduces the time to conduct commercial vehicle inspections by up to 50%.
Integration of CVIEW-Plus and Iteris Inspect allows users across agencies to share data, Adkins said. Roadside users are able to access registration data for inspection and enforcement, while desktop users are able to view carrier safety data prior to issuing credentials or processing registration renewals. "In the past, data has been delayed up to 24 hours while being processed through federal systems," Adkins said. "Iteris’ commercial vehicle solutions allow users to have near real-time access to state data."
Less time roadside improves safety for both drivers and enforcement personnel. CVIEW-Plus data services further automate commercial vehicle selection processes, allowing compliant carriers to bypass weigh stations and enforcement personnel to focus on driver and carrier education aimed at reducing defects, benefitting the safety and mobility of the broader transportation network.
"Pre-populating data reduces the time to complete inspection reports and improves data quality by reducing input errors," Adkins added. "Reducing the time for roadside inspections is better for the carrier’s business, and improves safety for both the driver and the inspector."
