2015 IRP Annual Meeting – Day 3: Wednesday May 20, 2015
A portion of the meeting today was broken down into three separate round-table discussion topics. The hope was that by splitting the one large group up into several smaller groups, that more questions could be asked and answered, and that they could cover more topics quickly. And it seems that the process was a success. The first topics we covered in the round tables had to do with CVSA and Electronic Inspections, Electronic Credentials, CCMTA and AMVA.
CVSA and Electronic Inspections
Colin Mooney of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) offered some information about what a Level VIII electronic inspection would look like. Right now electronic inspections can cover topics as varied as Medical Exam Certificates, Hours of Service, Driver Speed and Shipping information.
Questions revolved around inspector training, and inspection details.
Training is only offered to government employees. Industry cannot beome certified inspectors because this is an enforcement program. Mooney gave two examples of electronic inspection detail that measured wheel and tire safety while the truck is moving, with the hope being that if a tire is too hot, you can pull that truck over before they have a blow out.
Electronic Credentials
Lonnette Turner came to talk to us about Electronic Credentials. This has been in the works for a long time, and people are starting to talk about it like it’s inevitable.
Part of the goal is to eliminate decals. Electronic credentialing is the way to do this, because you can tie EVERYTHING to one system, and one barcode. Turner asked for feedback and got many questions about CVIEW and CVISN.
There was no clear answer to most of the questions, but Turner was happy to have the information brought to the table so it could be fully investigated. There is a long list of obstacles, but this roundtable is about identifying those obstacles. When a straw pole was taken to ask if people thought there would be a benefit in this program there was overwhelming support.
Canadian Council of Motor Transit Administrators (CCMTA)
Vern Janz came to talk to us about the Canadian vision to have the most efficient and safe movement of people and goods in the world. (A good goal if you ask me.) They make decisions by consensus, not by majority rule. They care about things like road safety strategy, interprovincial information exchange, reciprocity agreements, and organization effectiveness.
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)
Anne Ferro came to talk about AAMVA. This organization was created 80 years ago by jurisdiction members to identify issues and provide a resource to help solve problems. All jurisdictions face these issues together, so it only makes sense that they built themselves a resource.
Ferro mentioned the autonomous truck as an example issue. The question: who is trained and how? Is it the driver? Is it the truck? Is it both? These kinds of trucks are being tested by the manufactures in several jurisdictions. That means that the manufacture is ahead of the regulations and now is the moment where jurisdictions can be seen as an innovator by proactively creating the necessary regulations, or as a barrier to innovation by being uninformed.
Later in the meeting, we had a long presentation about PRISM, and then a panel discussion.
PRISM
The Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) also presented briefly and opened up a panel for questions. The panel included:
Monique Riddick, PRISM Program Technical Manager, FMCSA
Dennis Piccolo, PRISM Technical Support Team Manager, FMCSA
Clay Green, Georgia State Program Manager, FMCSA
And Cathy Beedle of Nebraska.
The questions were specific and the discussion was heated. This was the ONLY time during the conference when people took advantage of the “Text to Ask Questions” option presented by IRP Inc. earlier in the conference.
After the PRISM discussions, the conference attendees broke up again, this time into regions to discussed local issues. After that, it was time for closing remarks, and the conference was over.
We’re looking forward to the next IRP meeting in Oklahoma. Check with us for more updates like these.
Written by Casey Jenkins