1.0 Introduction

1.1 Statement of Problem

With commercial vehicle inspection resources stretched thin due to increasing traffic volumes, staffing cuts, and expansion of roles and activities, states are seeking new ways to monitor and enforce truck size and weight regulations.  Limitations of fixed weigh station-based screening and enforcement activities (e.g., ability of overweight vehicles to use routes around the fixed sites to bypass enforcement resources) provide strong motivation for states to consider new approaches to roadside compliance verification and enforcement. These bypass routes are among many locations where violators are likely to travel that are monitored only by mobile enforcement officers whose presence may be sporadic and random.  In many other locations, such as urban areas, a weigh station cannot be built due to environmental or cost reasons, but violators are likely to travel these roadways.  A number of the “bad actors” purposely avoid detection.  Many of these operators are habitual offenders.

Resources for roadside safety inspections are especially scarce.  According to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), approximately 177 million truck weight inspections are conducted annually, versus only three million truck safety inspections. (IntelliDriveSM website, sponsored by the United States Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, June 18, 2009.) Of these three million inspections, 73 percent result in violations, whereas only 0.29 percent of weight inspections result in violations.  Overall, truck safety compliance is problematic, but the low percentage of weight violations belies the numbers of overweight commercial vehicles that travel on roadways not monitored by traditional enforcement operations.

In an effort to address these and other issues, states are deploying “virtual weigh stations.”  Compared to a traditional weigh station, a virtual weigh station “mimics” the capabilities of the weigh station but do not require continuous human staffing and can be deployed more cheaply than fixed sites.  No fewer than 14 jurisdictions received Federal Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) Deployment Grants in Fiscal Years 2006 – 2008 to deploy “virtual weigh stations.”   States also are using other Federal, or State, funds to deploy virtual weigh stations.  An in-depth study conducted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2008 – 2009 documented the current State of the practice regarding “virtual weigh station” deployments and revealed a wide range of capabilities and little consensus on what constitutes a virtual weigh station. (State of the Practice of Roadside Technologies, submitted by Cambridge Systematics to the Federal Highway Administration, May 2009, as part of the Truck Size and Weight Enforcement Technology Project.)

In fact, the term “virtual weigh station” is ubiquitous and often is used to describe any deployment of roadside technologies that occurs away from a fixed inspection site.  If virtual weigh stations are to become an integral element of states’ commercial motor vehicle enforcement strategies – and indications are that they will – it is imperative that all stakeholders have a comparable understanding of the virtual weigh station concept.

1.2 Scope of This Document

This document describes the concept of operations (ConOps) for the virtual weigh station (VWS).  The ConOps describes the goals, functions, key concepts, architecture, operational scenarios, operational policies, and impacts of virtual weigh stations.  A summary of benefits and costs follows the ConOps description.

This ConOps will provide technical guidance to jurisdictions regarding their implementations of the virtual weigh station concept.  The ConOps will be a tool that can be used to plan roadside programs, support states’ funding requests, obtain buy-in from public and private stakeholders, and communicate information among State, Federal, and private sector parties.

Sections 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 of this document describe the opportunities afforded by virtual weigh stations to address roadside compliance verification and enforcement challenges summarized above.

1.3 Organization of This Document

This document contains six sections.  The sections are the following:

Section 1.0, Introduction – Provides the context for developing a concept of operations for the virtual weigh station.

Section 2.0, Current Situation – Reviews current roadside enforcement operations and existing virtual weigh station deployments.

Section 3.0, Motivation for Virtual Weigh Station – Describes the challenges and needs underlying states’ virtual weigh station deployments and the operations that will address the challenges.

Section 4.0, Concept of Operations – Presents the operational scenarios, information needs, and functionality associated with virtual weigh stations.

Section 5.0, Summary of Benefits and Costs – Relates the expected benefits and costs of deploying virtual weigh stations.

Section 6.0, Conclusions – Summarizes the enforcement improvements gained from virtual weigh stations, as well as limitations and next steps.

An Appendix also is included, which presents a list of acronyms used in this document.

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