Drivers in North America deserve safe highways. PrePass Safety Alliance is a non-profit public-private partnership of state agencies and trucking industry leaders devoted to safe, secure and efficient use of North America’s highway system. Through widespread deployment of PrePass® advanced technologies, the Alliance works with government agencies to increase regulatory compliance in commercial vehicle operations and reduce congestion and emissions on our roadways. PrePass technologies help motor carriers save time, fuel and money. To date, the Alliance has invested over $800 million on services that improve safety, reduce truck-related emissions and preserve highway infrastructure.

PrePass Safety Alliance provides the PrePass® suite of innovative products and services designed to make highways safer and more efficient. PrePass is the only provider to offer the benefits of both a bypass mobile app and an RFID transponder. Both technologies allow qualified motor carriers to comply with safety regulations while legally bypassing inspection and weigh facilities at highway speeds. Commercial vehicles equipped with these technologies save companies and drivers time and fuel and reduce emissions, while the system enables state agencies to more efficiently monitor safety and traffic flow. PrePass services also include; driver safety ALERTS™ which give truck drivers roadway safety notifications, electronic toll payment services for seamless and efficient toll payments, dispute research and reconciliation, and INFORM™ safety software, which supplies quick, clear insights into the factors impacting your fleet’s Inspection Selection System (ISS) score. The public benefits from these PrePass Safety Alliance products and services are safer roadways, a cleaner environment and reduced consumer costs.

As a public-private partnership, the Alliance works closely with federal, state and motor carrier industry decision-makers to advance safety and efficiency on our highways. PrePass services help increase safety, reduce delays and costs, and enhance the economic and environmental benefits that the trucking industry contributes to the nation. Today, PrePass e-screening and weigh station bypass, coupled with the INFORM Safety Software and PrePass Plus toll management system, represent North America’s most utilized truck safety pre-clearance service and the nation’s most extensive intelligent transportation program. The Alliance will continue to serve its customers and partners by identifying and developing advanced technologies that increase transportation system interaction and performance.

PrePass Safety Alliance, formerly known as HELP Inc., began in the late 1980s as the Crescent Project, a collaborative research program between state transportation directors and trucking company executives in western states and British Columbia. Their objective was simple: to make roads safer for all highway users and more efficient for motor carriers by using technology to weigh trucks at highway speeds and allow compliant trucks to bypass weigh stations.

The Crescent Project involved the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington, and the province of British Columbia. The results of the Crescent Project led to the creation of PrePass Safety Alliance and the launch of the PrePass service. Today, PrePass Safety Alliance’s PrePass e-screening and weigh station bypass, coupled with its PrePass Plus toll management system, represent not only North America’s largest truck safety pre-clearance service but also the nation’s largest vehicle-to infrastructure (v2i) program.

Trucks move over 70% of all goods in America, including medical supplies, textbooks, electronics, and emergency equipment and temporary housing in times of need.  Nearly every product consumers buy in the grocery store, at the mall, even at the gas station, arrived in a commercial vehicle. PrePass Safety Alliance partners with the trucking industry and government agencies to develop products that improve safety on the highway, reduce emissions, and deliver those goods efficiently. Since 1997, trucks equipped with PrePass products reduced emissions by 798,901 metric tons, saved 361 million gallons of fuel and gained 75 million more hours of productivity on the road, amounting to nearly $7 billion in cost savings. That adds up to lower prices at the store, safer highways and a cleaner environment. Even better, the Alliance provides these services and infrastructure improvements at no cost to states, meaning no extra burden on taxpayers. Find out how PrePass Safety Alliance benefits your state here.

PrePass Safety Alliance, formerly known as HELP Inc., began in the late 1980s as a collaborative research project between state transportation directors and trucking company executives in western states and British Columbia. Their objective was simple: to make roads safer and more efficient for motor carriers by using technology to weigh trucks at highway speeds and allow compliant trucks to bypass weigh stations.

The Alliance’s primary mission is the improvement of highway safety throughout North America through policies that also promote efficiency within the motor carrier industry. Unlike for-profit companies which look to maximize profit, as a non-profit public-private partnership, the Alliance provides states cutting edge safety and data software and infrastructure improvements at no cost to taxpayers. States also benefit by reduced traffic congestion in and around weigh stations. At the same time, the PrePass customers enjoy technologically advanced products and services which allow them to improve productivity, save fuel and get to their points of pick-up and delivery on time.

PrePass independent driver and company customers report that the most important benefit to them is the time saved in bypassing scales and inspection stations. FMCSA estimates the minimum cost of pulling into a weigh station or scale at $8.68, and that is just for static weighing or a credential check. In today’s operating environment, just a few minutes off the road can make the difference between making a delivery or pick up on time or getting home instead of spending the night in a sleeper berth or hotel room. Bypassing weigh stations also reduces wear and tear on trucks and lowers truck-related emissions.

Any non-profit can legally make a profit if its products and services are mission-focused and advance its tax-exempt goals and activities. PrePass Safety Alliance exists to make highways safer and more efficient through innovative data-driven solutions. In addition to offering PrePass safety and technology products and services, the Alliance works with multiple government partners and the trucking industry to advance the safety and efficiency of commercial transportation on our highways. The Alliance continually reinvests profits back into infrastructure and the bypass system to the benefit of the states we serve. This unique public-private coalition empowers the Alliance to deliver advanced transportation technologies faster, better and more cost-effectively than traditional approaches because safety and efficiency take priority over profit.

When a qualified PrePass-enrolled commercial vehicle approaches an open weigh station, PrePass automatically verifies with state and federal authorities whether that vehicle is eligible to bypass. PrePass weigh station bypass software operates using either a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder mounted to the truck windshield, or through the PrePass app, a mobile bypass app for use on cell phones, tablets and telematics systems. The system then delivers a red or green signal to the transponder / device in the vehicle’s cab. If the driver receives a red light, they are required to pull into the weigh station. If the driver receives a green light that means they have been pre-cleared to bypass the weigh station.

Any carrier can voluntarily enroll and agree to be pre-screened for bypass. Carriers with good safety records and current credentials will be authorized to bypass PrePass-equipped weigh stations, ports of entry, scale facilities and agricultural interdiction sites as long as they also meet any specific state requirements. Other PrePass products and services such as industry-leading ALERTS, INFORM Safety and INFORM Tolling are available to all carriers who wish to improve safety and efficiency.

The private and public representatives who comprise the Alliance Board of Directors utilize the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Inspection Selection System (ISS) thresholds to set basic criteria to determine if a carrier’s vehicles qualify to bypass weigh stations and ports of entry. PrePass Safety Alliance utilizes data from SAFER (carrier records maintained by FMCSA), the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (Nlets), and other government sources to electronically screen carriers and establish that their safety record and credential information qualifies them to bypass.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Inspection Selection System (ISS) is used at roadside inspection stations to help inspectors identify and prioritize motor carriers for safety inspections. The Alliance uses ISS as a preliminary guide to determine which trucks may be eligible for bypass. ISS helps to determine eligibility for bypass and establish a recommended random pull-in rate to periodically verify that the system is working as it should.

Today, concerns over data privacy are greater than ever. While traffic cameras and even cell phones can be used to follow a truck or driver’s every move, the Alliance does not track carriers or share carrier data, with few exceptions. The founders of the PrePass system were acutely aware of maintaining privacy and confidentiality. Our data privacy policies, along with federal and state personal privacy regulations, prevent the collection and sharing of any driver’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The Alliance automatically purges all carrier PrePass transaction data after 90 days. The Alliance’s Data Committee and Board of Directors continually review data privacy laws and rulings to ensure that its actions protect individual privacy while supporting critical enforcement actions.

In alignment with our primary mission of highway safety, PrePass Safety Alliance is authorized and obligated to report carrier data to a state or federal enforcement agency when a vehicle/driver is the subject of a criminal investigation,  there is sufficient probable cause to believe a vehicle/driver is carrying drugs or other contraband, there is a national security issue or there is an actual or impending situation that may cause injury, loss of life of destruction of property.

Imagine that instead of having five transponders on your windshield for multiple tolling authorities, you need only one. PrePass Plus allows carriers to electronically pay tolls without stopping at toll plazas and use the same device for weigh station bypass. Where offered by tolling agencies, the Alliance receives discounted tolling rates and passes these discounts on to the PrePass Plus customer. As part of PrePass Plus, the Alliance can research, dispute and reconcile erroneous or fraudulent tolls on behalf of its customers. As an added benefit, PrePass Plus customers can access their toll transactions daily, equipping them to bill toll costs in real-time to shippers. By facilitating electronic tolling, the Alliance provides four keys benefits; reducing traffic congestion in toll plazas, incentivizing truckers to use less congested toll roads, no need for drivers to carry cash in the cab for payment, reducing tolling authorities administrative costs.

The PrePass INFORM suite of products helps carriers analyze bypass, safety and toll activity to spot trends, take immediate actions to mitigate safety and toll fraud risks, and provide new insights into their operations. INFORM presents information in an easy-to-use, intuitive format so users can quickly understand and utilize data to make informed decisions. The INFORM products are included with all PrePass and PrePass Plus accounts at no additional charge.

SafetySTAT helps agencies responsible for commercial motor vehicle compliance to monitor, analyze and view commercial truck weights, credentials, safety, state bypass and other operational activity. This key part of PrePass weigh station software allows authorized site personnel, managers and administrators to quickly spot trends to help mitigate safety and other risks, manage limited resources and supply insights into weigh station effectiveness and operation. SafetySTAT software presents this data on one screen in an easy-to-use, intuitive format so users can quickly understand information, generate documentation and make decisions. It provides PrePass partner agencies with actionable bypass and inspection trend data for easy communication to both internal and external stakeholders. PrePass Safety Alliance provides SafetySTAT to Alliance partners at no charge.