INDOT Challenge: How to Maintain Our Highway Infrastructure

Mark NewlandDeputy Commissioner of Traffic ManagementIndiana Department of Transportation

Thanks to Dr. Darcy Bullock, Purdue University

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Problem Statement & Objectives Static weigh stations do not appear to be

effective in enforcing truck weight laws. Objective 1: To utilize “high-tech”

equipment and communications to more effectively monitor truck traffic with the goal of increased truck weight compliance.

Objective 2: Significantly increase the “hit rate” for motor carrier inspectors:More effective use of scarce resources.

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0

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10

15

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0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000

Gross Vehicle Weight (lbs)

18-k

ip E

SALs

Pavement Damage Model4

18,000Axle ESAL

80,000-lb truck = 2.44 ESALs25,000 cars

100,000-lb truck = 6.33 ESALs 65,000 cars

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50

100

150

200

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39

Design Life (years)

Proj

ect E

SALs

(mill

ions

)

Legal Over Tandem Over GVW Over Axle

120,000,000 ESALs

I-80/94 Eastbound Lane 3 Projected ESALs

Legal Trucks

OverweightTrucks

Design Life = 30 years

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Static Weigh Stations Primarily located on

interstates entering the state

Screens vehicles entering the state for weight and equipment violations

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Statewide: Static Weigh Station Study Violation data collected at all 8 active Indiana

weigh stations August-September 2003 Total Open Hours: 3,680 Weight Violations GVW > 85,000 lbs

14 (1 every 268 hours open) Weight Violations are only

25% to 30% of activity Did not include new I-70

weigh station.

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Total Violation Summary

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200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 30 31 32 33 34 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Violation Code

Cou

nt

Warning Ticket

Weight Equipment DriverLicensing

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Violation Summary – Overweight Codes Code 1 – Unspecified Violation Code 10 – Unspecified Weight Violation Code 11 – Overweight Single Axle Code 12 – Overweight Drive Tandem

Combination Code 13 – Overweight Trailer Tandem

Combination Code 14 – Unspecified Overweight Tandem

Combination Code 15 – Overweight GVW Code 16 – Overweight Bridge Formula

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14 Trucks Cited over 85,000 lbs at Static Weigh Stations August-September 2003

Location Date Time Elapsed Time GVWI-65 Lowell 8/18/2003 6:40:00 1:55 90260I-65 Lowell 8/26/2003 19:06:00 5:36 85040I-69 Warren 8/14/2003 8:04:00 2:04 85340I-69 Warren 9/18/2003 20:45:00 0:15 86380I-69 Warren 9/24/2003 21:00:00 6:00 94220I-69 Warren 9/26/2003 14:05:00 1:05 94020I-74 MM18 9/12/2003 9:05:00 3:35 85700I-94 EB 8/25/2003 16:00:00 9:30 92880I-94 EB 8/29/2003 13:19:00 7:19 86160I-94 EB 9/15/2003 15:00:00 7:00 89780I-94 WB 8/14/2003 11:00:00 8:00 89000I-94 WB 9/22/2003 15:00:00 9:30 85800I-94 WB 9/24/2003 8:45:00 2:45 89180I-94 WB 9/29/2003 9:00:00 6:00 88500

Heaviest vehicle = 94,220 lbs GVW

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Overweight Truck Problem Are there any overweight trucks? Examine I-80/94

east of Chicago8-lanesHeavy truck trafficWIM Data

(light traffic)

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Month Total >80k % >90k % >100k % MaxMay-02 912,868 35,689 3.9% 1,575 0.2% 316 0.03% 140,000 Jun-02 832,352 35,258 4.2% 1,306 0.2% 265 0.03% 143,000 Jul-02 848,587 36,694 4.3% 1,392 0.2% 238 0.03% 135,500 Aug-02 826,752 31,818 3.8% 1,193 0.1% 179 0.02% 142,700 Sep-02 856,019 24,768 2.9% 1,129 0.1% 229 0.03% 133,500 Oct-02 975,837 21,925 2.2% 1,230 0.1% 246 0.03% 130,300 Nov-02 831,839 15,479 1.9% 1,016 0.1% 194 0.02% 130,600 Dec-02 828,076 12,587 1.5% 1017 0.1% 179 0.02% 126,000 Jan-03 915,372 12,285 1.3% 976 0.1% 202 0.02% 137,000 Feb-03 836,759 12,466 1.5% 875 0.1% 180 0.02% 131,100 Mar-03 906,600 15,746 1.7% 982 0.1% 204 0.02% 136,200 Apr-03 889,877 18,017 2.0% 905 0.1% 200 0.02% 127,300

I-80/94 Class 9 WIM Stats

~28,660 trucks each day ~37 trucks over 90,000 lbs each day ~7 trucks over 100,000 lbs each day Static weigh stations only identify 14 trucks over

85,000 over a two month period STATEWIDE

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Comments Study indicates static weigh stations were

not effective for identifying weight violations.GVW > 85,000 lbs

14 (1 every 268 hours open) Could similar inefficiencies exist for:

Equipment?Driver?Licensing?

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Best Practice Use existing WIM infrastructure to screen

for overweight In-Vehicle wireless Data (not video)

~$2000-$5000 per site~$1500 per law enforcement vehicle

Dedicated Inspection Area

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VWS Data Flow

90,000 lb

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VWS Vehicle Hardware

Laptop located in police cruiser with software installed

Protective case holds modem and antenna can be passed from car to car

900 Mhz radio modem

MagMount Antenna

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Virtual Weigh Station Video Snapshot

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First Pilot run: I-65 near Lafayette, Indiana. Observers radioing weights downstream manually.

August 10, 2000

WIM Reading 112,340 lbs.Portable Scales 111,350 lbs.Legal ~73,280 lbs. (short trailer)

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VWS on US 24 East of Ft. Wayne, Indiana

WIM

Cabinet

US 24Enforcement Parking

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Ft. Wayne VWS Field Installed Hardware

AntennaMounted adjacent to cabinet

Modem PanelMounted inside cabinet

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US 24 Inspection Site East of Ft. Wayne VWS

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Obtaining Static Weights on Certified Portable Scales at US 24 Inspection Area

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Final Observations Static Weigh Stations do not appear to be effective for

weight enforcement. Overweight commercial vehicles continue to be a

problem. Overweight commercial vehicles are a significant

concern from an infrastructure life expectancy and safety perspective.

Static Weigh Stations are more successful on inspection activities

We believe weight enforcement may be more effectively performed by randomly using several dozen strategically placed WIMs.

Purdue estimates VWS program is 55 X more effective in weight enforcement than static weigh stations.

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Final Observations Need to increase risk to illegal trucks. Need centralized adjudication process. State Police are short on manpower. Can use technology to:

Make up manpower shortage; More cost effective weight enforcement; Significantly increase risk to illegal trucks =>

increased weight compliance => reduced infrastructure damage => reduced highway maintenance => lower costs to ALL customers.

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Future of VWS in Indiana Freight issues are now a major focus. Created a dedicated INDOT CVO position. Will now begin to aggressively address

overweight problem. Working closely with the trucking industry.

Indiana Motor Truck Association generally supports VWS => “Levels the Playing Field”.

Continue to partner with Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.