[2]
Federal Register
The official public notice of government actions. [3]
Federal Telecommunication System 2000 (FTS 2000)
GSA initiative to create a new and improved private telecommunication network
capable of handling the new technological demands of the upcoming century.
Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA)
An organization representing and addressing issues of concern to state tax
administrators.
Felony
An offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or
imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. [2]
Fifth Wheel
A device mounted on a truck tractor or similar towing vehicle that interfaces
with and couples to the upper coupler assembly of a semitrailer.
[2]
Fleet
Under IRP, one or more apportionable vehicles. [21]
For Hire Motor Carrier
A person engaged in the transportation of goods or passengers for
compensation. [2]
For Hire Vehicle
A vehicle used to transport goods or passengers for compensation.
Freight
Any commodity being transported.
Freight Forwarder
An individual or company that accepts less-than-truckload (LTL) or
less-than-carload (LCL) shipments from shippers and combines them into carload
or truckload lots. Designated as a common carrier under the Interstate
Commerce Act.
Frontage Road
A roadway generally paralleling an expressway, freeway, parkway, or through
street designed to intercept, collect and distribute traffic desiring to cross,
enter, or leave such facility and to furnish access to property which otherwise
would be isolated as a result of controlled-access features. The frontage
road may be within the same traffic way as the main roadway or in a separate
traffic way.
Full Trailer
A trailer, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and so
constructed that no part of its weight rests upon or is carried by the towing
road vehicle. An auxiliary undercarriage assembly – commonly known as a
converted dolly and consisting of a chassis, fifth wheel, and one or more tow
bars – is sometimes used to convert a semitrailer to a full trailer.
Function
A logical collection of processes within a business segment. [32]
General Freight Carrier
A carrier which handles a variety of commodities, typically in LTL quantities
and generally involves the use of terminal facilities to break and consolidate
shipments.
Geographical Information System (GIS)
A computerized data management system designed to capture, store, retrieve,
analyze, and report geographic and demographic information. [33]
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A government-owned system of 24 earth orbiting satellites that transmit data to
ground-based receivers. GPS provides extremely accurate latitude and
longitude ground positions in WGS-84 coordinates. [33]
Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR)
The value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination
(articulated) vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the
manufacturer, GCWR will be determined by adding the GVWR of the power unit and
the total weight of the towed unit and any load thereon. [2]
Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)
The maximum allowable fully laden weight of the vehicle and its payload.
The most common classification scheme used by manufacturers and by states,
often for both trucks and tractors. [22]
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)
A value specified by the manufacturer for a single-unit truck, track tractor,
or trailer, or gross combined weight rating the sum of such values for the
units which make up a truck combination. In the absence of a gross
vehicle weight rating, an estimate of the gross weight of a fully loaded unit
may be substituted for such a rating. The gross vehicle weight rating of
a truck combination may be called the gross combination weight rating.
[21]
Harmful Event
Occurrence of injury or damage.
Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT or HM)
A material or substance which has been determined by the Secretary of
Transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety,
and property when transported in commerce and has been so designated.
This includes radioactive material, explosives, and poisonous materials.
[9]
Hazardous Material Transportation Act (HMTA)
This act mandated 13 federal rule makings and studies to deal with areas of
concern, including routing of hazardous materials, changes in placarding,
training for hazardous material employees, motor carrier registration and
permitting and electronic data interchange. [9]
Hazardous Material Transportation Uniform Safety Act (HMTUSA)
An act, passed in 1990, which requires that certain carriers and shippers
engaged in the transportation of hazardous materials register with the
Secretary of Transportation. The Hazardous Material Transportation Act
(1974) extends the DOT’s authority to regulate hazardous materials.
[9]
Heavy Duty Truck
Truck with a gross vehicle weight generally more than 19,500 pounds (class
6-8). Other minimum weights are used by various laws or government
agencies.
Heavy Straight Vehicle
Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle
towing a vehicle not in excess of 10,000 pounds GVWR.
Heavy Vehicle Electronic License Plate (HELP)
A multi-state, multi-national program which was established to develop and test
the technologies for an integrated heavy vehicle monitoring and management
system.
Hours of Service (HOS)
The hours of service that a driver has operated a vehicle.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
HTML is a simple language based on SGML suited for hypertext, multimedia, and
the display of small and reasonably simple documents. SGML lets document
makers describe their own grammar, and specify both the tag set used in the
document and the structural relationships those tags represent. HTML
applications are applications using a small set of tags that conform to a
single SGML specification thus limiting extensibility, structure, and
validation. [46]
IFTA Audit
A review of a carrier’s records to verify fuel usage claims and other data
supplied on IFTA tax forms.
IFTA, Inc.
A nonprofit corporation chartered for the purpose of providing information,
support, and training to carriers and public administrators in implementing and
operating under the provisions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement for
payment of fuel taxes by commercial motor vehicles. [37]
Internet
The Internet is a world-wide network of computers, comprised of thousands of
smaller regional networks scattered across the globe. It is now a public,
cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible to tens of millions of
people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total
resources of the currently existing public telecommunication networks.
Technically, what distinguishes the Internet is its use of a set of protocols
called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
IRP Audit
A review of a carrier’s records to verify mileage figures and other data
supplied by the carrier as a basis for determining registration fees and fee
apportionment by IRP.
IRP, Inc.
A nonprofit corporation chartered for the purpose of providing information,
support, and training to carriers and public administrators in implementing and
operating under the provisions of the International Registration Plan for
commercial motor vehicles. [37]
Imminent Hazard
Any condition of vehicle, employee or commercial motor vehicle operation which
is likely to result in serious injury or death if not discontinued
immediately. [31]
Incapacitating Injury
Any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from
walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable
of performing before the injury occurred.
Indicia
Items issued by the Registration Agency which indicate" registration
information has been gathered and appropriate fees paid. Indicia include
license plates, fuel stickers, cab cards, etc. [31]
Injury
Bodily harm to a person. This definition does not include effects of
diseases such as stroke, heart attack, diabetic coma, epileptic seizure, and
others.
Injury Accident
Any road vehicle accident that results in one or more injuries.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
IEEE fosters development of standards within the full range of electronics and
electrical engineering areas.
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
Maintains references on a variety of standards and guidelines affecting the
surface transportation industry.
Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA)
A Federal Advisory Committee to advise the U.S. Department of Transportation on
the ITS program.
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)
This act requires all states to participate in IFTA and IRP by September 30,
1996. Provides primary federal funding for highway programs in the
U.S. Contains IVHS Act of 1991 (Title VI, Part B).
International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA)
A base state agreement among states for collecting and disbursing fuel use tax.
International Registration Plan (IRP)
A base state agreement, mandated by ISTEA, that provides for vehicle
registration reciprocity among member jurisdictions. Current members
include most states and Canada. [22]
Interoperability
The quality that describes different types of products or systems cooperating
to accomplish a shared function. For example, DSRC readers and
transponders are products that must interoperate to support various roadside –
vehicle interactions. [42]
Interstate Commerce
Trade, traffic or transportation in the U.S. which is between a place in a
state and a place outside of such state or is between two places in a state
through another state. [2]
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
A commission with the authority to regulate the interstate motor carrier
industry by the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. [3]
Interstate Highway
A trafficway on the Interstate System.
Interstate Motor Carrier
A motor carrier engaged in interstate commerce whose vehicle(s) transports
property or passengers between or through two or more states or other
jurisdictions (see “Jurisdiction”). [16]
Interstate Operation
Vehicle movement between or through two or more jurisdictions.
[22]
Intrastate Commerce
Any trade, traffic or transportation in any state which is not in interstate
commerce. [2]
Intrastate Motor Carrier
A motor carrier whose vehicle(s) transports property or passengers from one
point within a jurisdiction to another point within the same jurisdiction,
excluding interstate movements.
Intrastate Operation
Vehicle movement from one point within a jurisdiction to another point within
the same jurisdiction. [22]
Junction
Either an intersection or the connection between a driveway access and a
roadway other than a driveway access. [3]
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction means a state territory, or possession of the United States, the
District of Columbia, or a state, province, or territory of a country.
[22]
Lease
A written document vesting exclusive possession, control of and responsibility
for the operation of a vehicle to a lessee for a specific period of time.
[22]
Less Than Truckload (LTL)
A quantity of freight less than that required for the application of a
truckload rate. Usually less than 10,000 pounds.
Lessee
A person, firm, or corporation which has the legal possession and control of a
vehicle owned by another under terms of a lease agreement. [22]
Lessor
A person, firm, or corporation which, under the terms of a lease, grants the
legal right of possession, control of, and responsibility for the operations of
the vehicle to another person, firm, or corporation. [22]
Licensing Application Migration Project (LAMP)
Combines vehicle database and driver’s license database. [28]
Light Trucks
Trucks under 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (e.g., pickups, vans,
truck-based station wagons, and multi-purpose vehicles).
Long-Term Lease
A lease written for a period exceeding 29 consecutive days. [22]
Mainline Automated Clearance System (MACS)
A demonstration project that allows transponder-equipped trucks to travel the
entire length of I-75 and Highway 401 at mainline speeds with no more than one
stop at an inspection station and still verifying weight compliance and
credential status. It is part of Advantage I-75. [5]
Median
The portion of a divided highway or guideway that separates the opposing flows
of traffic. [3]
Medium and Heavy Trucks
Trucks over 10,000 pounds GVWR, including single-unit trucks, tractor-trailer
combinations, trucks with cargo trailer(s), and truck-tractors pulling no
trailer.
Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
The organization designated by the governor and local elected officials as
responsible, together with the state, for transportation planning in an
urbanized area. [3]
Motor Carrier
A person (an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust,
or any other organized group of individuals) who is responsible for the safety
fitness of a commercial motor vehicle engaged in commerce on roads and
highways. [25]
Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS)
A central repository of comprehensive safety data on interstate motor carriers
maintained by the FHWA OMC.
Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP)
A program established to get potentially unsafe drivers and imminently
hazardous vehicles off the road by increasing the level of safety enforcement
activity.
Motor Vehicle
Any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by
mechanical power and used upon the highways in the transportation of passengers
or property.
Motorist
Any occupant of a motor vehicle in transport.
Multi-Jurisdictional Oversize and Overweight Organization
An organization of 10 states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) that promotes standard
oversize weight permitting and enforcement. [29]
Namespaces
“XML namespaces provide a simple method for qualifying element and attribute
names used in Extensible Markup Language documents by associating them with
namespaces identified by URI references.” [45]
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
A program established by AASHTO to provide a mechanism for a national
coordination program of cooperative research employing modern scientific
techniques. [3]
National Driver Register (NDR)
A national repository of state submitted data about adverse actions applied to
a driver’s record. Updated information is returned to the states.
National Governors’ Association (NGA)
An organization whose members are the governors of each state in the United
States of America. It serves as a vehicle through which governors
influence the development and implementation of national transportation
policy. [26]
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
A branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for overseeing
and improving safety and standards in the United States.
National Incident Management Coalition (NIMC)
A program created to serve as a focus for consensus building, and for promotion
and wider implementation of incident management programs.
National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (NLETS)
A store and forward computer controlled message switching system which links
together state, local and federal law enforcement and criminal justice agencies
for the purposes of information exchange. [10]
National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)
An information system allowing users to check the validity, and status of title
documents, check vehicles titled in other jurisdictions, check salvage and junk
vehicles, review odometer readings and review information reported by salvage
yards and insurance companies. The system is being developed to support
the requirements of the Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992 and must be operational by 1
January 1996. [38]
National Private Truck Council (NPTC)
An association of corporations that operate their own trucking fleets.
[28]
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
An independent agency of the Federal Government whose responsibilities include
investigating transportation accidents and conducting studies, and making
recommendations on transportation safety measures and practices to government
agencies, the transportation industry, and others. [3]
New England Transportation Consortium (NETC)
A consortium of New England States including Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont which enables carriers moving oversize
and overweight vehicles to obtain one permit for travel in all states
participating in the NETC. [13]
Non-Regulated Trucking
A carrier that is exempt from economic regulation, e.g., exempt agricultural
shipments.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
An agreement establishing a free trade area between Canada, Mexico, and the
United States, which provides for the phase out of restrictions on cross-border
land transportation services. [27]
Notice Of Investigation (NOI)
Notice to a respondent (motor carrier) that the FHWA has discovered safety
regulation violations that may require a compliance order and/or a monetary
penalty. [31]
Occupant
Any person who is part of a transport vehicle.
Office of Motor Carriers (OMC)
A division of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) responsible for issues concerning the nation’s motor
carrier industry and is organized as follows:
-
Headquarters
– OMC’s main office is at the USDOT building in Washington, D.C.
-
Regional
– There are nine OMC regions in the United States. Regional offices
report to headquarters.
-
Division – Each State has a division office that works closely with
state motor carrier safety and registration officials. Division offices
report to the Regional offices. [25]
Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST)
An agency responsible for providing policy development and program oversight as
well as coordination among various DOT agencies. OST is also responsible
for reviewing proposed budgets, evaluation, legal issues, and initiating
research. [14]
On-Board Computer (OBC)
Special purpose microcomputers that are attached to sensors that record vehicle
and driver attributes.
On-Board Safety Monitoring
The systems that provide for sensing the safety status of a vehicle, cargo, and
driver at mainline speeds.
On-Duty Time
On-duty time starts when the driver begins work or must be ready for work and
ends when the driver is relieved of all responsibility. On-duty time
includes all time spent driving, loading and unloading, preparing accident
reports and attending to the operation of a vehicle. It also includes
meals and coffee breaks. [2]
One-Stop Shopping
Refers to the ability to obtain all required tax and regulatory credentials
from a single source.
Operating Authority
Specifies the products a carrier may haul and where it may haul them. The
legal permission required by a carrier to haul goods from one point to
another. [16]
Operating Expenses
The costs of handling traffic, including both direct costs, e.g., driver wages
and fuel, and indirect costs, e.g., computer expenses and advertising, but
excluding the interest expense.
Operations Out of Service Order
The official document or declaration used by FHWA or state enforcement
officials to order a motor carrier, driver or vehicle to cease operations for
imminent hazard conditions. [31]
Operator
With respect to motor vehicles, every person, other than a chauffeur, who is in
actual physical control of a motor vehicle on a highway.
Other U.S. Route Numbered Highway
A traffic way numbered by the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO), but not an interstate highway.
Out of Service Driver (OOSD)
A driver who can no longer operate a vehicle because of being on duty over the
maximum periods permitted by the Code of Federal Regulations. [2]
Out of Service Vehicle (OOSV)
A vehicle which cannot be operated because the vehicle is in such a condition
as to likely cause an accident or breakdown. [2]
Out of Service Violation
Any violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which results in
a vehicle out of service condition. [2]
Oversize/Overweight Permit
A special permit that is issued for vehicles operating outside the statutory
limits set for size and weight.
Overturning Accident
A road vehicle accident in which the first harmful event is the overturning of
a road vehicle.
Owner
The entity listed as the owner of a vehicle. [21]
Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA)
A national trades association that serves the interest of independent
owner/operators. [28]
Owner/Operator
An equipment lessor who leases his vehicular equipment with driver to a
carrier. [22]
Passenger
Any occupant of a road vehicle other than its driver.
Piggyback
The transportation of highway trailers or removable trailer bodies on rail cars
specifically equipped for the service. It is essentially a joint carrier
movement in which the motor carrier forms a pickup and delivery operation to a
rail terminal, as well as a delivery operation at the terminating railhead.
Port of Entry (POE)
A roadside site used to monitor and regulate trucks using state highways with
respect to weight, size, safety and possibly weight distance taxation.
[15]
Port of Entry Advanced Sorting System (PASS)
An operational test of WIM, AVI, AVC, OBC, and two way communication systems to
pre-clear trucks on mainline I-5 at Ashland (Oregon) port of entry.
Possible Injury
Any injury reported or claimed which is not a fatal injury, incapacitating
injury or nonincapacitating evident injury.
Power Unit
The control and pulling vehicle for trailers or semitrailers.
Pre-Trip Travel Information
A user service that will provide travelers with information before their
departure and before the mode choice is made.
Principal Place of Business
A single location designated by the motor carrier, normally its headquarters,
where records will be maintained. [16]
Private Carrier
A person, firm, or corporation which uses its own trucks to transport its own
freight. [22]
Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS)
A central repository of information regarding problem drivers throughout the
country. Its primary function is to support the driving license issuing
process.
Process
A repetitive, well-defined set of logical tasks that support one function, can
be defined in terms of inputs and outputs, and have a definable beginning and
end. Processes can be decomposed into processes and are triggered by an
event and carried out by a business segment to achieve a stated purpose.
A low-level process may be replicated across the business segment.
[32]
Profile (see Report)
Public Service Commission (PSC)
A state agency whose responsibilities include regulation of for-hire (public
and private) carriers of passengers and goods within a state. [3]
Public Utility Commission (PUC)
A state agency whose responsibilities include regulation of for-hire (public
and private) carriers of passengers and goods within a state.
[3]
Radio Determination AVL
Radio determination AVL uses radio signals to measure the distance between a
truck and two or more known points; location is calculated by
triangulation. Government radio determination systems use one-way radio
signals: the Loran-C system transmits from a network of ground
towers: and the NavStar Global Positioning system (GPS) uses a
network of satellites. Trucks can be equipped with receivers and
computers to decode the signals and calculate location, or data can be
transmitted to a central computer for processing. Vehicle tracking can be
continuous or intermittent. Loran-C is accurate within several thousand
feet and GPS within several hundred feet. Location information can be
stored onboard or transmitted to the fleet office. [29]
Ramp
An auxiliary roadway used for entering or exiting mainline highway facilities.
Recap
Under the IRP, states collect and submit “recap” information to the IRP
Clearinghouse. A recap provides information from IRP applications and
supplements including name, address, identifiers, miles registered by the
carrier for each jurisdiction, vehicle and registration specific information,
weight registered and fee collected for each vehicle for each jurisdiction.
Reciprocity Agreements
Agreements between states allowing for the reciprocal granting of equivalent
rights and/or privileges to properly credentialed vehicles. [16]
Regional Automated Permit Processing (RAPP)
Pilot project which generated a central shared database enabling participating
states to track permits and check credentials. [29]
Regional Fuel Tax Agreement (RFTA)
A base state agreement entered by Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire to administer
interstate fuel tax.
Registered Weight
The weight for which a vehicle is licensed or registered within a particular
jurisdiction. [22]
Registrant
A person, firm, or corporation in whose name or names a vehicle is properly
registered. [22]
Registration Agency
A governmental organization which gathers registration information, collects
registration fees and issues indicia (plates, stickers, cab cards, etc.) for
commercial motor vehicles.
Registration State
A state in which a motor carrier has registered its vehicles for
operation. [25]
Regulated Motor Carrier
A carrier subject to economic regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Reinstatement
Restoration of driving privilege or credential following suspension or upon
renewal after expiration (within the grace period).
Remittance Netting
Each month, the IRP Clearinghouse summarizes the recaps submitted to determine
fees collected on behalf of one jurisdiction for another. The “remittance
netting” report, prepared for each member jurisdiction, shows to which
jurisdictions the member owes fees and from which other jurisdictions the
member is due fees.
Report (formerly profile)
A more detailed expansion of the information in a snapshot. A report
provides the same kind of information as in a snapshot, but at a more detailed
level (e.g., specific inspection data, accident records, and events).
Research and Special Program Administration (RSPA)
An agency responsible for developing and researching transportation system
approaches and technologies with intermodal impacts, including the development
and implementation of telecommunication and radio navigation policy.
[14]
Resource Description Framework (RDF)
“Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a foundation for processing metadata;
it provides interoperability between applications that exchange
machine-understandable information on the Web. RDF emphasizes facilities
to enable automated processing of Web resources… The RDF integrates a
variety of web-based metadata activities including sitemaps, content ratings,
stream channel definitions, search engine data collection (web crawling),
digital library collections, and distributed authoring, using XML as an
interchange syntax.” [45]
Revocation
In most jurisdictions, revocation of a credential terminates the privileges
granted by that credential. At the end of a specified revocation period,
reapplication for the credential is usually allowed.
Road
That part of a traffic way which includes both the roadway and any shoulder
alongside the roadway.
Roadside
The part of the traffic way between the outer edge of the shoulder and the edge
of the traffic way; off the road, but inside the traffic way and not part of
the median.
Roadside Inspection
An inspection of a commercial vehicle or driver that occurs at the
roadside.
Roadside Operations Computer (ROC)
A computer system used to perform the functions of electronic screening at
either a fixed or mobile roadside station. [39]
Roadway
That part of a traffic way designed, improved, and ordinarily used for motor
vehicle travel or, where various classes of motor vehicles are segregated, that
part of a traffic way used by a particular class. Separate roadways may
be provided for northbound and southbound traffic or for trucks and
automobiles. Bridle paths and bicycle paths are not included in this
definition. [3]
Rocky Mountain Double
A combination vehicle consisting of a tractor, a 45- to 48-foot semitrailer,
and a shorter 28-foot semitrailer.
Rural Area
Any area not within urban areas.
SAFETYNET
A distributed system for managing safety data on both interstate and intrastate
motor carriers and for the federal and state offices to electronically exchange
data on interstate carriers with MCMIS.
Safety State
The state of the motor carrier’s principal place of business for safety as
indicated on the MCS-150 form. This is the place where safety records are
maintained. [25]
Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER)
An on-line system that will be available to users over a nationwide data
network which will return a standard carrier safety fitness record to the
requester within a few seconds. [31]
Safety Status (SafeStat)
A summary measure of a motor carrier’s safety performance and history.
Screening
The process of using historical and sensor information to determine whether to
allow a vehicle to continue down the road.
Selective Compliance Enforcement (SCE)
A program used by FHWA to prioritize carriers for participation in compliance
reviews based on commodity transported, annual carrier mileage, months since
last review, vehicle OOS rate, driver out of service rate, preventable
recordable accident rate, and general safety fitness rating. [18]
A trailer, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and so
constructed that part of its weight rests upon or is carried by the towing road
vehicle. A truck trailer equipped with one or more axles and constructed
so that the front end rests upon a truck tractor.
Shared Road
Any bikeway that is part of a roadway, but not a bicycle lane.
Shoulder
That part of a traffic way contiguous with the roadway for emergency use, for
accommodation of stopped road vehicles, and for lateral support of the roadway
structure.
Single State Registration System (SSRS)
A base state agreement for administering operating authority.
Smart Card
Plastic cards with an embedded integrated circuit chip containing memory and
microprocessor.
Snapshot (also see Report)
A condensed collection of safety and summary level information pertaining
to: who a carrier is, where the carrier is based, his basic type of
operation, and the carrier’s safety rating and safety record.
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
A society which advances international standards pertaining to the automotive
manufacturing industry.
Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO)
An organization started in 1993 to adopt a multi-state oversize/overweight
agreement for its member states.
Specialized Carrier
A trucking company franchised to transport articles that because of size,
shape, weight, or other inherent characteristics, require special equipment for
loading, unloading or transporting.
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
SGML is an international standard (ISO 8879) for defining descriptions of the
structure and content of different types of electronic documents. XML is
a simplified subset of SGML facilities designed to enable the use of SGML on
the World Wide Web.
State Entry Beacon (SEB)
A fixed position controller, also called a reader, its associated transmit and
receive antennas, modulation/demodulation hardware and software which are
located at the state border. [20]
State Route Numbered Highway
A traffic way within a state traffic way system, but not an interstate highway
or other U.S. route numbered highway.
State of Domicile
The state in which a carrier maintains its headquarters.
Straight Truck
A vehicle with its cargo body and tractor mounted on the same chassis.
Tag Number
A vehicle’s license plate number, including state, of a vehicle.
Tank Vehicle
Any commercial motor vehicle that is designed to transport any liquid or
gaseous materials within a tank that is either permanently or temporarily
attached to the vehicle or the chassis. [2]
Technical Performance Measure
A quantitative expressing some measurable, technical characteristic of a system
which is the key to the effectiveness of the system.
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
An industry organization that promotes telecommunications standards.
Temporary Trip Permit
Temporary travel permits, valid for two to ten days, allowing a vehicle to
travel in a jurisdiction where a carrier does not have a permanent registration
permit.
Third Structure Tax
Any tax on road users other than registration fees or fuel taxes. See,
for example, ton-mile tax and weight-distance tax.
Ton Mile Tax
A per-mile tax, calculated by determining the ratio of actual vehicle gross
weight to the sum of actual miles traveled at that weight. A weight
distance tax, which is similar, bases the tax on registered (instead of actual)
gross vehicle weight. [16]
Total Distance
For IRP, the total number of miles operated by a fleet of proportionally
registered vehicles in all jurisdictions during the preceding year.
[22]
Tractor
A self-propelled motor vehicle designed and/or used primarily for drawing other
vehicles. [2]
Tractor Semitrailer
A combination vehicle consisting of a power unit (tractor) and a semitrailer.
Traffic Unit
A road vehicle or a pedestrian.
Trailer
A road vehicle designed to be drawn by another road vehicle. [2]
Transmittals
Carriers file quarterly IFTA tax returns. Member jurisdictions submit
“transmittals” to the IFTA Clearinghouse that report information from the tax
returns. Members can then review the tax return data applicable to their
jurisdiction.
Transparent Borders
The ability of commercial vehicles to travel unimpeded across state borders.
Transponder
An electronic tag carried by a motor vehicle that has electronically stored
information that can be retrieved by a roadside reader.
Transportation Computer Center (TCC)
Houses the mainframe computer system used by the Department of
Transportation. MCMIS resides on this mainframe. [19]
Transportation Operation Coordination Committee (TOCM)
A group of 15 transportation and public safety agencies that manages regional
traffic for heavily traveled New York/New Jersey/Connecticut corridor.
Transportation Research Board (TRB)
Under direction of National Academy of Science’s National Research council, it
stimulates, correlates and makes known the findings of transportation research.
Trip
The period during which a vehicle is continuously travelling from its point of
origin to its destination. The vehicle may stop for short periods during
the trip without causing discontinuation of the trip if no change occurs in the
loaded weight.
Trip Ticket
An electronic ticket stored on the transponder which contains trip related
information such as the carrier, vehicle, driver and transponder IDs, commodity
code, weight measurements, date/time/location and results of last clearance
event. The trip ticket is transmitted during DSRC between vehicle and
roadside reader equipment.
Truck
A motor vehicle designed to carry an entire load. It may consist of a
chassis and body, a chassis, cab and body, or it may be of integral
construction so that the body and chassis form a single unit.
Truck Combination
A truck consisting primarily of a transport device which is a single-unit truck
or truck tractor with one or more attached trailers.
Truck Tonnage
The weight of freight, measured in tons, transported by a truck.
Truck Tractor
A motor vehicle consisting of a single motorized transport device designed
primarily for drawing trailers.
Truckload
Quantity of freight required to fill a truck. When used in connection
with freight rates, the quantity of freight necessary to qualify a shipment for
a truckload rate, usually over 10,000 pounds.
Turnpike Double
A combination vehicle consisting of a tractor and two trailers of 45 to 48
feet.
Twin Trailer
A short semitrailer (under 29’) designed to be operated as part of a
combination vehicle with a tandem trailer of similar length.
Unified Carrier Register
A national system that will allow for registering carriers and issuing US DOT
numbers. It will maintain census information on carriers that are
authorized to operate in the United States. The concept for this system
is being developed. The UCR is intended to replace the current systems
used for assigning DOT numbers, assigning ICC numbers, implementing the Single
State Registration System (SSRS), and tracking financial responsibility.
Unladen Vehicle Weight
The weight of a vehicle fully equipped for service, not including the weight of
its payload.
Unrated Carrier
A motor carrier without an assigned safety rating from the FHWA.
[2]
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
A unique combination of alphanumeric characters affixed to one vehicle in
specific locations and formulated by the manufacturer. [21]
Vehicle Information System for Tax Apportionment (VISTA)
A software system developed by Lockheed Information Management Systems for
calculating transactions among states based on reporting by carriers.
Vehicle Title Information Exchange (VTIE)
A system to enable the exchange of title information about specific vehicles to
verify that titles are valid and detect altered or fraudulent documents.
[6]
Vehicle to Roadside Communication (VRC)
A means to deliver messages between moving vehicles randomly entering a
communications zone and a fixed roadway infrastructure for both wide area
communication and large based applications. [20]
Verification
The process of checking the true, current status with the single, designated
authoritative source.
Vehicle-Mile
A measurement of the total miles traveled by all vehicles in an area.
Generally applied to intercity movements only.
Violation
A violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations assigned to a
vehicle as part of an inspection.
Washington Trucking Association (WTA)
A non-profit trade association in existence since 1922. It consists of
fourteen hundred members from common carriers, private carriers, movers,
logging truckers, bulk carriers, heavy haul carriers, and suppliers.
[28]
Weigh-In-Motion (WIM)
Measures dynamic axle weight at highway or slower speeds. Weigh-In-Motion
refers to various technologies that enable vehicle weights to be determined
without the need for a vehicle to physically stop on a scale.
Weight-Distance Tax
A tax based on a tax rate for the number of miles traveled and the weight of
the vehicle. Total tax liability is calculated by multiplying the tax
rate for the weight times miles traveled.
Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO)
A consortium of 17 states chartered primarily to provide uniform formulation
and administration of size and weight regulations. [28]
Western Regional Agreement (WRA)
An agreement among several western states that allows a motor carrier to
purchase a single trip permit for a moderate oversize or overweight load.
This permit is valid in any of the participating states. [16]
World Wide Web (WWW)
The World Wide Web is the most widely used part of the Internet. Its
outstanding feature is the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), a method of
instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or phrases
appear in text of a different color than the rest; often this text is also
underlined – clicking on these words/phrases transfers the user to relevant
sites. The Web refers to a body of information – an abstract space of
“pages” and links to pages accessible via the Internet, while the Internet
refers to the physical side of the global network.
X12
The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 was chartered by ANSI in 1979 to
develop uniform standards for interindustry electronic interchange of business
transactions – electronic data interchange (EDI). ASC X12 develops,
maintains, interprets, publishes and promotes the proper use of American
National and UN/EDIFACT International EDI Standards. The EDI standards
streamline business transactions by establishing a common, uniform business
language for computers to communicate across town or around the world.
With more than 275 transactions sets, X12 standards can be used to
electronically conduct nearly every facet of business-to-business
operations. The X12 standard development process involves negotiation and
consensus building, resulting in approval and publication of Draft Standards
for Trial Use and American National Standards. The committee maintains
current standards, proposes new standards and embraces new ideas. The
result of the ASC X12 committee’s efforts are the ANSI X12 standards.
[44]
XML Base
XML Base is “a facility, similar to that of HTML BASE, for defining base URIs
for parts of XML documents. One of the stated requirements on XLink is to
support HTML linking constructs in a generic way… XML Base is “a mechanism for
providing base URI services to XLink, but as a modular specification so that
other XML applications benefiting from additional control over relative URIs
but not built upon XLink can also make use of it.” [45]
XML Linking Language (Xlink)
“The XML Linking Language (Xlink) allows elements to be inserted into XML
documents in order to create and describe links between resources. It
uses XML syntax to create structures that can describe the simple
unidirectional hyperlinks of today’s HTML, as well as more sophisticated
links.” [45]
XLM Pointer Language (XPointer)
XML Pointer Language (XPointer) is “the language to be used as the basis for a
fragment identifier for any URI reference that locates a resource of Internet
media type text/xml or application/xml.
XPointer, which is based on the XML Path Language (XPath), supports addressing
into the internal structures of XML documents. It allows for examination
of a hierarchical document structure and choice of its internal parts based on
various properties, such as element types, attribute values, character content,
and relative position.” [45]
XML Query
XML Query is a means “to provide flexible query facilities to extract data from
real and virtual documents on the Web, therefore finally providing the needed
interaction between the web world and the database world. Ultimately,
collections of XML files will be accessed like databases.” [45]
XML Schema
“XML Schemas express shared vocabularies and allow machines to carry out rules
made by people. They provide a means for defining the structure, content
and semantics of XML documents.”
“The purpose of a schema is to define and describe a class of XML documents by
using these constructs to constrain and document the meaning, usage and
relationships of their constituent parts: datatypes, elements and
their content, attributes and their values, entities and their contents and
notations. Schema constructs may also provide for the specification of
implicit information such as default values. Schemas document their own
meaning, usage, and function. Thus, the XML schema language can be used
to define, describe and catalogue XML vocabularies for classes of XML
documents.” [45]
XML Signature and Canonicalization
“XML Signatures provide integrity, message authenication, and/or signer
authentication services for data of any type, whether located within the XML
that includes the signature or elsewhere… The XML Signature is a method of
associating a key with referenced data (octets); it does not normatively
specify how keys are associated with persons or institutions, nor the meaning
of the data being referenced and signed.” [45] “Any XML
document is part of a set of XML documents that are logically equivalent within
an application context, but which vary in physical representation based on
syntactic changes permitted by XML 1.0 and Namespaces in XML. This
specification describes a method for generating a physical representation, the
canonical form, of an XML document that accounts for the permissible
changes. Except for limitations regarding a few unusual cases, if two
documents have the same canonical form, then the two documents are logically
equivalent within the given application context. Note that two documents
may have differing canonical forms yet still be equivalent in a given context
based on application-specific equivalence rules for which no generalized XML
specification could account.” [45]
Xpath
“XPath is a language for addressing parts of an XML document, designed to be
used by both XSLT and XPointer.” [45]
eXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML)
“XHTML is a family of current and future document types and modules that
reproduce, subset, and extend HTML 4. XHTML family document types are XML
based and, ultimately, are designed to work in conjunction with XML-based user
agents.” [45]
eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
“Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of SGML… Its goal is to enable
generic SGML to be served, received, and processed on the Web in the way that
is now possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of
implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML.” [45]
eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
“XSL is a language for expressing stylesheets. It consists of two parts:
-
XSL Transformations (XSLT): a language for transforming XML
documents
-
An XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics (XSL Formatting Objects)
An XSL sylesheet specifies the presentation of a class of XML documents by
describing how an instance of the class is transformed into an XML document
that uses the formatting vocabulary.” [45]
Document Comment and Evaluation Form (Optional)
