ProMiles Software Development Corporation announced that carriers will soon have the ability to automatically route Oversize/Overweight (OS/OW) loads on-line within the state of Texas. Based on ProMiles software, TxDOT’s new system called TxPROS will cut operating costs and provide easier, more efficient ways of routing these types of loads than previously available anywhere in the specialized carrier arena, the company says.
ProMiles will develop and implement a web-based software routing solution for use by TxDOT and its customers to automatically generate and evaluate alternate routes for transporting OS/OW loads on Texas’s roadways.
In an era when state transportation budgets are stretched increasingly thin and the transportation infrastructure is aging, traffic counts and the demand for permits to transport heavy loads is increasing in high growth areas. The motor carrier industry is faced with transporting larger and heavier loads to support economic growth in energy production, manufacturing, and infrastructure construction.
“Routing oversize and overweight loads can be extremely complex, time-sensitive, and requires cooperation among multiple partners. Accurate routing plays a key role in reducing congestion, enhancing safety, expanding economic opportunity, and preserving our transportation assets,” said Carol Davis, Director of TxDOT’s Motor Carrier Division. “With over 500,000 oversize/overweight permits issued in Texas last year, and a 25 percent growth rate over the past three years, we clearly need a better way to route loads safely, improve our ability to track their movement on our highways and bridges, and meet our customers’ needs efficiently. TxPROS will provide us with the next-generation of truck routing software to meet those goals.”
Texas has over 80,000 centerline miles of state-maintained roadways (almost 200,000 lane miles). There are more than 49,000 bridges in the state of which nearly 8,000 are not over waterways and therefore present potential vertical clearance limitations to roadways running under them. The ProMiles solution will take advantage of TxDOT’s current technical architecture and available roadway data, ProMiles says. It will also substantially reduce the time it takes to process OS/OW permits, and allow TxDOT to meet increasing demand for services. Furthermore, it will improve TxDOT’s tracking of structures that affect OS/OW routing, and provide the ability to track the transport of OS/OW loads on Texas’s roadways. The new system is expected to be available within 24 months.
