The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and our State motor carrier safety agency partners want to enable the safe introduction of partially automated truck platooning through our roadside truck inspection activities. Offered in concert with a series of truck platooning demonstrations conducted by the Federal Highway Administration, the inspection demonstration featured in this video focused on commercial vehicle safety equipment critical to trucks engaged in platooning.

 

As part of the truck inspection demonstration, FMCSA and Virginia State Police inspectors conducted vehicle component safety measurements and checks of a truck’s brake system, wheels, tires, and lights – safety-critical vehicle components that enable safe truck platooning.

 

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles demonstrated its Infrared Inspection System (IRIS) mobile unit that detects malfunctioning or inoperable brakes, under-inflated tires, and leaky exhaust systems as trucks travel at highway speeds. The IRIS is an efficient, real-time screening tool that enables inspectors to target trucks with defective and inoperable vehicle components. FMCSA research has shown that 90 percent of trucks identified by IRIS technicians and inspected by roadside inspectors are then placed out-of-service until repairs can be made. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles acquired the IRIS van, one of five across the State, with FMCSA grant funding.

FMCSA will continue to work with its State partners directly and through the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to ensure that advanced technologies such as truck platooning are operated and maintained safely by fleets. We will do this through our roadside truck inspection activities and by supporting our State partners who are instituting flexible streamlined processes to evaluate and deploy truck platooning operations in their States. This approach accelerates the introduction of technologies that improve productivity by interested trucking fleets while ensuring that the safety of the general traveling public is not compromised.