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A 21st Century answer to a Caltrans bottleneck
By Greg Dineen
Before you can put that fixed load (cranes,
concrete pumps, drill rigs or any towable loads
that exceed legal dimension and weight) on the
road, you have to get a permit—and the first
requirement for the permit is the fabled
Caltrans inspection. Once a vehicle has been
inspected, the company receives a Caltrans
profile sheet with the dimensions and tire sizes
necessary to obtain a transportation permit.
A
permit will not be issued without an inspection
report, which is good for the life of the
vehicle/trailer unless ownership changes or
weight increases.
Most local agencies also
require the same documents to obtain a local
permit. Caltrans has only three vehicle
inspectors to cover the entire state. You are
required to give a 10-day advance notice to set
an appointment to have your vehicle trailer
inspected. This applies to both interstate and
intrastate carriers.
A carrier that doesn’t
schedule an appointment in advance could find
themselves sitting at the border until an
inspector is available. The South Region
inspector meets interstate carriers at the
border, which is time consuming with three to
four hours of travel to the Nevada state line,
four to five hours to Needles and four to five
hours to Blythe.
That’s a lot of travel for one
inspection, so there are times a carrier may be
put off a day or more if there is another
carrier arriving soon. We constantly see eight-
and nine-axle carriers just trying to get to
their pickup locations or make deliveries.
We
are proposing allowing the carrier, a permit
service or a local company to conduct “virtual
inspections” using the latest technology. If the
carrier is approved, an inspection report could
be issued, facilitating the permit. If there is
anything questionable, a permit could be issued
to the nearest California Highway Patrol
inspection facility later.
For example in
Blythe, if a secondary inspection is necessary,
the inspector could meet the carrier in Banning
or another pre-determined location. If the
vehicle didn’t pass the virtual inspection due
to weight issues or a change necessary to be
California-legal, the carrier would have to make
the necessary changes and would know
immediately, not after waiting 10 days.
If
virtual inspections are approved, it will be an
immediate cost savings to both Caltrans and the
industry. We are still in discussion with
Caltrans about this, so if you have any
suggestions or questions, please let us know.
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