CVSA and Kodiak remove autonomous trucking’s inspection hurdle

The pilot began in April 2023 along the Interstate 45 corridor between Dallas and Houston after the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance approved the program in 2022. Nearly a year and a half after the pilot began, Kodiak released its results. 

Kodiak performed these enhanced inspections on more than 1,000 assets including autonomous tractors and traditional trailers. The inspections identified more than 525 defects, with 95% of those defects found on trailers and only 5% found on tractors. 

“Kodiak typically uses its customer trailers, so each new load Kodiak hauls typically comes on a trailer that never previously received an enhanced inspection,” members of the Kodiak team wrote in a blog post about the pilot program. 

Further, while 70% of Kodiak’s partner trailers passed a traditional driver-vehicle inspection report, more than 40% of Kodiak’s partner trailers failed the enhanced inspection. Kodiak believes this is due to the “higher level of training and expertise” certified enhanced inspectors possess compared to the average driver conducting their DVIR. 

These results also suggest that trailer maintenance is less stringent than that of tractor maintenance because “trailers typically have longer replacement cycles than tractors, and because trailers often do not get serviced as frequently as tractors,” Kodiak stated in the blog post. 

Overall, the “thorough nature” of Kodiak’s enhanced inspections could “uncover additional safety defects beyond even a well-executed DVIR,” Kodiak suggests. 

Most defects in Kodiak’s tractor and trailer inspections were found on components with high wear and tear. Kodiak identified 137 defects of more than 160 enhanced inspections of its customer trailers. These defects were primarily found on the tires (46%) and included tread depth, flats, and sidewall issues. A full breakdown of the defects is listed in the pie chart below. 

The difference between CVSA’s enhanced inspection and DVIR is apparent from the beginning. Instead of a traditional inspection conducted by the driver of the tractor, enhanced inspections must be performed by a CVSA-certified inspector. This inspection is valid for a 24-hour period and logged into a trucking technology system—Drivewyze, in Kodiak’s case—which is how the inspection results are communicated to enforcement officers. During this 24-hour period, the vehicle will be allowed to bypass routine roadside inspections. 

The average duration of the CVSA’s enhanced inspections is longer than the time it takes to perform a traditional DVIR. Kodiak reports that, on average, its enhanced inspections take 38 minutes to complete a combination tractor and trailer. For a tractor only, the average inspection time is 32 minutes, and for a trailer only, the average inspection time is 20 minutes. This is compared to a traditional inspection that can take drivers 15 to 20 minutes for both tractors and trailers together. 

Additionally, the enhanced inspection is a zero-defect inspection procedure, meaning if a defect is found—no matter how small—it must be repaired before the vehicle can be dispatched. 

See also: The humanless difference: Autonomous efficiency goes beyond fuel savings

Can this autonomous truck inspection usher in a new era of trucking? 

With the stark contrast between the defects found in traditional inspections and the enhanced inspection, Kodiak believes the enhanced inspection process can help raise safety standards across the industry. 

The Kodiak team reported that even after many of its customers received rejections on their trailers, they “appreciate the additional visibility” because it has helped them “improve their own trailer maintenance processes.” 

The results of the pilot program could help provide regulators, law enforcement, and the public confidence in autonomous trucks and their roadworthiness, Kodiak states, while admitting the program needs more work to refine, standardize, and expand to other jurisdictions beyond the I-45 corridor between Dallas and Houston. 

“CVSA is encouraged by the results of the pilot in Texas,” Collin Mooney, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said. “We are excited about the potential of our Enhanced CMV Inspection Program and its ability to ensure the safety and roadworthiness of autonomous trucks.”