Rekor Systems, Inc. announced its Urban Mobility division has unveiled a strategic collaboration with Kistler, the world's foremost supplier of quartz weigh-in-motion ("WIM") sensors and electronics, known for providing precise and reliable solutions for vehicle weight management, bridge structural health monitoring, and safety applications. This strategic alliance marks a significant leap forward in real-time and predictive roadway intelligence, squarely addressing the critical issue of bridge and roadway infrastructure deterioration caused by dangerous, overweight vehicles. The integration of the two companies' technologies is the first-of-its-kind solution and is already playing a crucial role in detecting overweight trucks in New York City while serving as a prototype for the rest of the nation.

Overweight trucks significantly contribute to pavement deterioration. The American Trucking Association (ATA) reports that, despite representing only 11% of all vehicles on the road, the trucking industry is responsible for a staggering 99% of all road damage. In 1974, bridges were granted special protection against increasing truck weight limits, leading to the development of the Federal Bridge Formula.

This formula aids in determining the appropriate maximum gross weight for commercial motor vehicles based on factors like axle count and spacing. The impact of an overweight vehicle on the roadway, and consequently on deteriorating bridges, doesn't follow a linear pattern. For instance, a 5-ton axle doesn't cause just 5 times the damage compared to a 1-ton axle; it actually results in an astounding 625 times more damage.

In the United States, there are a total of 617,000 bridges. Among them, 42% have exceeded 50 years in age, and more than 46,000 are categorized as structurally deficient. Law enforcement agencies traditionally have used permanent (or "fixed") roadside stations to weigh and inspect trucks.

Fixed stations are expensive to construct, and trucks can bypass them by using alternate routes. The forthcoming revision to the National Institute of Standards & Technology Handbook 44 advocates for a proactive approach, permitting states and metropolitan planning authorities to leverage weigh-in-motion data for direct enforcement without requiring the construction of a traditional brick-and-mortar weigh station, typically manned by resource-constrained state police troopers. The synergy of Rekor and Kistler technologies enables an unprecedented new standard in the realm of comprehensive and real-time roadway observation and enforcement.

This innovative technology approach combines Kistler state-of-the-art WIM sensors with Rekor's industry-leading AI-driven vehicle recognition and advanced Edge Series Systems, equipped with powerful processing that leverages AI and machine learning to gather and transform data. This combined solution delivers superior accuracy and reliability in identifying dangerous overweight vehicles, providing confidence to enforce bridge and other weight-sensitive roadway locations while also opening the door for additional analytics and insights to be drawn from the roadside to understand the overall impact for future planning.