State of the Practice of Roadside Technologies

Foreword

Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.

The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names may appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.

Quality Assurance Statement

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Technical Report Documentation Page

1. Report No.

FHWA-HOP-09-050

2. Government Accession No.

3. Recipient’s Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

Truck Size and Weight Enforcement Technology
Task 2 Deliverables – State of the Practice of Roadside Technologies

5. Report Date

May 2009

6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s)

Cathy Krupa, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.;
Tom Kearney, FHWA

8. Performing Organization Report No.

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
100 CambridgePark Drive, Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02140

10. Work Unit No.

11. Contract or Grant No.

DTFH61-06-D-00004

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

Federal Highway Administration
Office of Freight Management and Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

Project Task Final Report

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. Supplementary Notes

FHWA COTM: Tom Kearney

16. Abstract

This memorandum is a deliverable of Task 2 of FHWA’s Truck Size and Weight Enforcement Technology Project. The primary project objective was to recommend strategies to encourage the deployment of roadside technologies to improve truck size and weight enforcement in the United States. The objective of Task 2 was to evaluate the state of the practice for using roadside technologies in enforcement activities. Task 2 was supported by an expanded data collection effort designed to capture the “best practices” of states with differing approaches to utilizing technologies. Emphasis was placed on weigh-in-motion (WIM) activities during State site visits and phone interviews. Information about other technologies used by states for enforcement, especially technologies used in association with WIM, also was captured. A list of participating states is included toward the end of the memorandum. Summarized information about their usage of technologies is provided in template format at the end of the memorandum.

WIM applications for enforcement are described for the best practice states that participated in this project. These applications include high-speed WIM used in fixed weigh station operations; low-speed WIM used for sorting on weigh station ramps; and screening at WIM sites using any of a number of vehicle identification methods, including unaided visual identification, camera (digital imaging) systems, and automatic vehicle identification (AVI) such as license plate readers and USDOT number readers. Virtual weigh stations, which employ digital imaging that may be augmented with AVI capabilities, are featured in the memorandum.

17. Key Words

Commercial vehicles, trucks, size and weight, enforcement, weigh-in-motion, screening, virtual weigh stations, roadside technologies

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions.

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

Unclassified

20. Security Classif.
(of this page)

Unclassified

21. No of Pages

22. Price

Metric Conversion Factors
(International System of Units)

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS
SYMBOL	WHEN YOU KNOW	MULTIPLY BY	TO FIND	SYMBOL
LENGTH
in	inches	25.4	millimeters	mm
ft	feet	0.305	meters	m
yd	yards	0.914	meters	m
mi	miles	1.61	kilometers	km
AREA
in²	square inches	645.2	square millimeters	mm²
ft²	square feet	0.093	square meters	m²
yd²	square yard	0.836	square meters	m²
ac	acres	0.405	hectares	ha
mi²	square miles	2.59	square kilometers	km²
VOLUME
fl oz	fluid ounces	29.57	milliliters	mL
gal	gallons	3.785	liters	L
ft³	cubic feet	0.028	cubic meters	m³
yd³	cubic yards	0.765	cubic meters	m³
NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m³
MASS
oz	ounces	28.35	grams	g
lb	pounds	0.454	kilograms	kg
T	short tons (2000 lb)	0.907	megagrams (or "metric ton")	Mg (or "t")
TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)
^oF	Fahrenheit	5 (F-32)/9 or (F-32)/1.8	Celsius	^oC
ILLUMINATION
fc	foot-candles	10.76	lux	lx
fl	foot-Lamberts	3.426	candela/m²	cd/m²
FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS
lbf	poundforce	4.45	newtons	N
lbf/in²	poundforce per square inch	6.89	kilopascals	kPa

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS
SYMBOL	WHEN YOU KNOW	MULTIPLY BY	TO FIND	SYMBOL
LENGTH
mm	millimeters	0.039	inches	in
m	meters	3.28	feet	ft
m	meters	1.09	yards	yd
km	kilometers	0.621	miles	mi
AREA
mm²	square millimeters	0.0016	square inches	in²
m²	square meters	10.764	square feet	ft²
m²	square meters	1.195	square yards	yd²
ha	hectares	2.47	acres	ac
km²	square kilometers	0.386	square miles	mi²
VOLUME
mL	milliliters	0.034	fluid ounces	fl oz
L	liters	0.264	gallons	gal
m³	cubic meters	35.314	cubic feet	ft³
m³	cubic meters	1.307	cubic yards	yd³
MASS
g	grams	0.035	ounces	oz
kg	kilograms	2.202	pounds	lb
Mg (or "t")	megagrams (or "metric ton")	1.103	short tons (2000 lb)	T
TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)
^oC	Celsius	1.8C+32	Fahrenheit	^oF
ILLUMINATION
lx	lux	0.0929	foot-candles	fc
cd/m²	candela/m²	0.2919	foot-Lamberts	fl
FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS
N	newtons	0.225	poundforce	lbf
kPa	kilopascals	0.145	poundforce per square inch	lbf/in²