Project Details
| Title: | Commercial Vehicle Roadside and Investigative Systems Software Development |
| Principal Investigators: | Brenda Lantz, Pat Johnson, Gary Talpers, Carl Alyea, Tim Brown, Dottie West, Peggy Kaiser, Susan Romero, and Kathy Short |
Abstract
This project involves the development and maintenance of software systems used by Federal and State motor carrier safety specialists, as well as private industry professionals. Since 1996, many interrelated roadside, investigative, and analytical software programs in use nationwide have been developed. These systems are considered to be mission critical to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and are steadily updated and refined to reflect regulatory changes, enforcement policy changes, as well as computer technology changes. The specific software programs include:
- Aspen Driver/Vehicle Inspection Software: This is the driver/vehicle inspection software used by most States and the FMCSA. Aspen runs on laptops and is used to collect inspection details and print the inspection report. It includes communication features to electronically transfer inspections to national information systems.
- ISS (Inspection Selection System) Development and Software: This is the primary tool used on the roadside to screen motor carrier vehicles and determine the usefulness of conducting an inspection. ISS returns the carrier snapshot which includes many critical safety performance indicators. It is linked to Aspen to auto-populate name and address data fields and initiate the inspection. It uses a local database which is refreshed weekly via SAFER. It can also operate as an online query tool.
- PIQ (Past Inspection Query) Software and Communications: PIQ accesses a national database of recent inspection reports (those done within the last 60 days), and retrieves copies and summaries. It allows checking for unrepaired defects and driver hours problems.
- CDLIS (Commercial Driver License Information System) Access Software: This is software for retrieving driver status and conviction history reports from CDLIS. It is coupled to Aspen and CAPRI, but can be operated as stand alone software as well.
- CAPRI Software Documentation, Compilation, and Installation Programming: This software is used for preparing standard Compliance Reviews as well as specialized cargo tank facility reviews, and HM shipper reviews. CAPRI includes worksheets for collecting (1) hours of service data, (2) driver qualification data, and (3) drug and alcohol compliance data. It also creates the preliminary carrier safety fitness rating and various reports to motor carriers.
- CaseRite Software: This program allows the creation of legal enforcement cases for Federal prosecution of FMCSR and FHMR violations.
- UFA (Uniform Fine Assessment) Software: This software allows calculation of a uniform and reasonable fine amount based on the nature of the violations and the various criteria set forth in the FMCSR. UFA is optimized for Federal fine structures and is used with CAPRI and CaseRite.
- ProVu Software: ProVu is a viewer which allows Federal, State, and private industry users to electronically analyze standard motor carrier profile reports available from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This application displays nearly every data element found on the hard-copy version of the carrier profile in an easy-to-understand format which can be sorted, filtered, and optimized by users.
- QC (Query Central): QC uses the latest web-based technology to consolidate inspector queries on drivers, vehicles, and carriers into a single "intelligent" request. It internally obtains data from several sources, analyzes it, and builds a prioritized report which identifies any past safety or operational problems.
- FMCSA Information Systems website development: This site is used to distribute information and software for FMCSA users and their state partners.
For more information about this project, please email Brenda Lantz (brenda.lantz@ndsu.edu).
