Prepass helps keeps freight moving safely and efficiently
As anyone who drives on Iowa’s interstates knows, there are a lot of big rigs rolling through our state carrying both finished goods and the raw materials needed to make the things we use every day. Assuring that commercial vehicles are safe is the job of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers. But with only 96 officers covering the entire state 24 hours a day, seven days a week, our forces are stretched thin at weigh scales and roving safety checks.
To assist with safety checks, Iowa utilizes an intelligent transportation system screening process for commercial motor vehicles called PrePass, which is installed at six Iowa DOT scale locations.
Since Iowa joined PrePass 2001, Iowa DOT’s MVE leadership been part of one the oldest and largest public/private partnerships in the nation, Heavy Vehicle Electronic License Plate (HELP Inc.), which was established to deploy intelligent transportation systems like PrePass that benefit both government and the motor carrier industry.
Based in Phoenix, Help Inc. has been successful due to the dedicated efforts of a board of directors made up of 50 percent government officials and 50 percent industry leaders. The Iowa DOT’s own Motor Vehicle Enforcement Chief David Lorenzen was recently named the president of the board of directors. He has served in other capacities on the board since 2006. Lorenzen says the Help Inc. board is working on an enhanced version of the screening system, as well as toll systems.
Lorenzen said, “The key component is the partnership of government and industry. We come together to understand each other’s perspectives and challenges and work together to find solutions that benefit not only the people around the table, but the traveling public, too.”
The PrePass technology involves a piece of electronic equipment called a transponder on the dash of a pre-screened commercial vehicle. When that vehicle passes under a scanner over the interstate near a rest area, a light in the cab turns green to tell the driver it is okay to bypass the weigh station or red to alert the driver that a safety check is needed and that the truck needs to be inspected at the weigh station. PrePass is currently the largest commercial motor vehicle screening system and is used in nearly 30 state weigh stations around the U.S. Use of the technology is focused on assuring the safe movement of goods while increasing the convenience of the commercial driver and another example of how the Iowa DOT is fulfilling our mission of getting you there safely, efficiently, and conveniently.
Benefits and results of PrePass
Benefits
- Enables law enforcement officials to focus on carriers that are most likely to be noncompliant.
- Rewards carriers with good safety records.
- Prevents trucks from queuing on roadways and shoulders.
- Reduces lane changing and merging around weigh stations.
- Gives carriers a major incentive to conform to safety regulations and credential requirements.
- Increases facility efficiency by allowing carriers to be electronically screened and to bypass inspection facilities and ports-of-entry based on state criteria.
- Provides electronic monitoring of daily, monthly, and annual truck traffic volume.
Results
- More efficient use of highways and commercial vehicle inspection facilities.
- Increased motor carrier productivity and shipper efficiency.
- Enhanced customer service as government carries out regulatory responsibilities at a lower cost with a higher degree of efficiency.
- Improved public safety as more bad drivers and unsafe trucks are removed from the road.
To see more about how PrePass, go to http://www.prepass.com/services/prepass/Pages/WhatIsPrepass.aspx.