United States Department of Transportation
i
Construction of e-Permit/VWS Model Sites: Project Summary Report Laurel, Kentucky and Unicoi, Tennessee
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2019-02-01
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[PDF-1.57 MB]
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Edition:Final Report
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Abstract:Rising commercial traffic volumes, staffing cuts, and expanding roadside enforcement personnel roles and responsibilities are stretching the ability of States to conduct effective commercial vehicle enforcement. To address this, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Technology Division deployed two virtual weigh station (VWS) ‘Model Sites’ on U.S. 25 in Laurel County, Kentucky and on Interstate 26 in Unicoi County, Tennessee. VWS provides screening and monitoring capabilities like that found at fixed weigh stations but does not require continuous human staffing and can be deployed at a lower cost than a fixed site. The two ‘Model Sites’ are intended to demonstrate the functionality and viability of VWS and advance the “Smart Roadside Initiative” (SRI) concept developed by FHWA and FMCSA. Following installation and calibration, a site performance review began to ensure that the above functionality was met. Each site utilized the SmartRoadside Inspection System (SRIS) as an automated tool to assist enforcement officers in screening commercial vehicles. Overall system performance was found to be good. An independent analysis by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) found that the Unicoi County, TN site was working reasonably well but that the Laurel County, KY site was not functioning properly, the project team was given an opportunity to re-run some of their performance tests to potentially record a higher system performance. However, the project team believes that the recommendations made by ORNL showed gaps in definitions and understanding of the SRIS system operation and thus the ORNL analysis presents differing performance numbers. The project team conducted the initial proscribed performance analysis with results consistent for the site conditions and equipment deployed. The performance numbers officially collected by the team meet the project goals and expectation of the system and continue to do so in subsequent monitoring. The sites began full operations in May, 2016.
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