The Freight Operations eXchange (FOX) platform is a centralized repository and exchange of aggregated data related to freight movement in the state of Florida. It provides a source for knowledge and insights for various roles and responsibilities within Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) divisions to facilitate performance monitoring, reporting, planning, and other freight management activities. In particular, FOX is central to the work of the Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO) and Motor Carrier Size and Weight (MCSAW) divisions.
FOX houses records from FDOT's individual virtual and physical weigh station facilities and roadside devices across the state and serves as an interface for external data sharing. It connects databases with partner agencies, enabling the retrieval and dissemination of information such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program and the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle (FLHSMV) overdue compliance citations.
The FOX platform interface and dashboard feature presents and visualizes data to enhance navigation, architecture, and performance. Visualization features include data summary by location with geographical representation; exportable data charts; and vehicle sightings, history, travel points and classification. Data comparisons can be made between days, month, and years.
The applications and use cases for FOX continue to expand as the platform is improved. Currently, FDOT, FLHSMV and Georgia State Patrol have an agreement in place to exchange data. This effectively leverages FOX as a regional, interstate application that supports the broader supply chain and safety goals through technology applications.
Most broadly, FOX is intended to help track any network performance element that CMVs can impact, contributing to the primary goal of ensuring the road network's state of good repair. It provides greater fidelity of CMV performance data than previously available, which enhances other freight analysis data sources and applications. Operationally, a future interface with the state's intelligent transportation system (ITS) network could better enable active management of the roadway network through transportation operations and management (TSMO) strategies like Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) and Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) strategies, increasing safety and enhancing mobility for all road users.
Future improvements include making connections to other facilities and data sources, for example, to port facilities that would allow the system applications to be more multimodal. FOX could also incorporate data from FDOT's Truck Parking Availability System (TPAS). This would allow the use of public truck parking spaces for more than Hours of Service, which generally occurs overnight. During the day, the public parking could be used as staging areas for just-in-time pick-up and delivery to ports and intermodal logistic centers. This application would be enabled through coordination with the ITS and arterial signal networks in conjunction with a Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) and Freight Signal Priority. This full integration allows FOX to fit seamlessly into other advanced systems and support the full spectrum operations of the transportation network, for both interstate and arterial roadways as well as points of origin and destination.
Another future application allows commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to bypass downstream weigh stations when previously screened and found compliant at an upstream site, increasing safety and mobility by reducing exit and entrance movements to a facility. The information that drives this algorithm can be gathered from multiple sources, including MCSAW devices and facilities, GSP, or partner agencies such as ports. The goal of this enhancement is to all CMVs, once found compliant, to move unhindered along the transportation system through active data exchange.
References
Contacts
Marie Tucker
Commercial Vehicle Operations Manager
Florida Department of Transportation
(850) 410-5619
marie.tucker@dot.state.fl.us
