Evaluation of thermal imaging technology for commercial vehicle screening.

Details

• Creators:
  Walton, Jennifer R. ; Spellman, Mark S. ; Crabtree, Joseph D.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Kentucky Transportation Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration ; Kentucky. Transportation Cabinet ; Multimodal Transportation and Infrastructure Consortium
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Commercial vehicles
  • Thermal imagery
  • Brakes
  • Tires
  • Inspection
  • Technology assessment
  • Evaluation
  • Recommendations
• Publication/ Report Number:
  KTC-15-19/MTIC7-14-1F
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Kentucky
• Corporate Publisher:
  University of Kentucky Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  Brake and tire violations are common problems identified through commercial vehicle inspections. Identifying and ; correcting these types of problems before a crash occurs can produce significant safety benefits. Thermal imaging ; technology can be used by commercial vehicle enforcement to screen vehicles as they approach a weigh station to ; determine if they may have flat tires and inoperable brakes. The vehicles do not have to be stopped at a weigh station to ; be screened. Kentucky currently has three stations outfitted with thermal imaging technology. The objectives of this study ; were to evaluate the benefits of using the thermal imaging cameras to identify brake and tire problems and to develop ; recommendations for how enforcement personnel can receive the most benefits from this technology. The data presented ; in this report include: 1) a summary of previous research, 2) evaluations of the technology, 3) on-site data collection at a ; Kentucky weigh station, 4) an interview with one of Kentucky’s primary users of the technology, and 5) an analysis of ; Kentucky inspection data, specifically, brake and tire violations and vehicle out-of-service (OOS) rates. A Federal Motor ; Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) evaluation concluded that the OOS rate for vehicles pinpointed via thermal ; imaging camera systems was 59 percent, whereas the OOS rate for conventional inspection was only 19 percent. Facilities ; with a thermal imaging system recorded a higher percentage of tire and brake violations per inspection as well as a higher ; vehicle out-of-service (VOOS) rate than facilities without a thermal imaging camera. However, the effectiveness of ; thermal imaging technology was significantly influenced by whether law enforcement embraced it as well as by ; inspectors’ proficiency operating the systems. This study recommends that enforcement staff who can access thermal ; imaging technology receive periodic training on its operation, then graduate to a practicum that lets them use the ; technology under expert supervision. Promotional materials that highlight the value of thermal imaging technologies ; should be distributed to all Kentucky enforcement personnel. In addition, methods and enforcement mechanisms should ; be identified so that personnel can be held accountable for using the technology.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  MTIC-7-14
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29711/dot_29711_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 272.74 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:436d21d0441935d7ac676ee09dbfc576da60ab9508ae09cfb0e492e8875119369308d2e8c03cf1ef72e7ed785bed1a4ebd82c2da54b1f8626476e0f5b7b710ea