Imagine, if you will, a future where there’ll be no driver interactions with law enforcement. The monitoring agency will be able to scan your RFID device, pull your E-Logs, and examine vehicle mechanical data, down to the exhaust gas composition, right from offices in Washington, D.C. or Sacramento, California.
“Mind if we borrow this”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) wants to take us one step closer to the apocalypse by “bogarting” the toll pass in your truck and turning it into an RFID license plate.
In the notice posted today and to be filed with the Federal Register tomorrow, the FMCSA claims “As a result of ‘consistent growth’ in the CMV industry, the number of vehicles to regulate far outpaces enforcement resources.” Maybe some members of Congress and the public should not have pushed to defund the police?
Seems the FMCSA has plans to “carrot or the stick” participating states and companies into going along with the project. FMCSA said in its notice, “FMCSA provides grant funding to States for technology projects that electronically identify a CMV, verify its size, weight, and credentials information, and review its carrier’s past safety performance while the vehicle is in motion and then communicate safely to the driver to either pull in or bypass the roadside inspection station.”
So why can’t they just use plate readers?
Ah, glad you asked. Toll transponders are devices that act as both a transmitter and responder and are used to wirelessly receive and transmit data to automatically identify and track the truck to which the transponder is affixed.
The transponder is then associated with a driver or company’s account for identification purposes. These devices are often utilized for toll collections or fuel purchases.
The notice, when it opens for comments on Friday morning, has a long list of questions that FMCSA wants drivers to comment on. Please take the time to look the official notice over, think about how it would affect your business, and respond accordingly.
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