Indiana State Police Unveil New Equipment to Keep Indiana Roadways Safe

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -Yesterday, the Indiana State Police Commercial Motor Vehicle Division unveiled a new piece of equipment that will help make Indiana roadways safer.  The equipment is called a Performance Based Brake Tester (PBBT) and is being utilized to confirm commercial vehicle brake systems are operating within acceptable parameters.

The PBBT units permit inspecting officers to take their inspections past the visual aspect.   By utilizing this equipment, the officers can actually test the stopping power of each brake on each tire of a commercial vehicle power unit and trailer. 

Two PBBT’s were purchased with a Federal Grant provided by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).   One of the units will be utilized in a fixed location at the WB I-70 Scale House inbound from Ohio at Richmond.  The second unit is portable and will be used around the state.  The total of the grant was just over $310,000. 

Since the arrival of the PBBT Units in December 2009, there has been 192 commercial vehicles tested of which 24 failed the test and were placed Out of Service.  This is a 12 ½ percent failure rate.  ISP’s goal is to test 2,300 commercial vehicles over a 12 month period. 

Yesterdays detail resulted in the following activity: 

• Trucks Inspected:  17
• Violations Discovered: 43
• Vehicles Out of Service:   7
• Tickets Issued:    5
• Warnings Issued:    7