Commerical Vehicle Enforcement using License Plate Recognition Technology

Speed limits for large trucks have been reduced at many locales for air quality and safety reasons. To realize an improvement in air quality and safety, however, diligent enforcement and fitting punishment have to be implemented. This may put a strain on already tight resources and manpower for state and local agencies. To this end, this paper presents a license plate recognition (LPR) technology based heavy vehicle speed enforcement system that requires relatively minimal initial investment and no increase in enforcement personnel, cruisers, or pursue/pull-over activities. The efficiency of the system is achieved by catching speeding trucks in the act and then enforcing the law at weigh stations, which all trucks, with few exceptions, are required to enter.

The configuration of the system for the Knoxville, TN study site is presented. Strategic placement of LPR units on I-40 and I-75 enables the speed tracking and enforcement process. Identified trucks are checked against the CVEIW national database for additional inspection, enforcement, and citation activities.