(May 22, 2001):The Kansas Turnpike Authority, Kansas Department of Transportation and Kansas Motor Carriers Association are participating in a joint program to allow qualified motor carriers to electronically comply with Kansas’s safety and credential requirements at highway speed.  The PrePass system operates using radio frequency technology, similar to the K-TAG electronic toll collection system used by the Kansas Turnpike.

The PrePass system uses Lockheed Martin IMS equipment and will be installed at no cost to KTA or KDOT.  Participating motor carriers pay a nominal fee to Lockheed Martin IMS each time they pass an inspection site. The first location to be installed will be at the South Haven weigh station on the Kansas Turnpike and should be operational by the end of the summer. Additional weigh station locations across the state will also be equipped.

As qualified trucks approach a PrePass-equipped inspection facility, an in-cab transponder electronically identifies the vehicle to the PrePass system, which confirms the vehicles compliance with state requirements. Vehicles meeting the requirements receive a green light on the in-cab transponder instructing them to bypass the inspection facility at highway speed.

E. Dean Carlson, Kansas Secretary of Transportation believes that systems such as PrePass are necessary in this day and age. “Our economy is a global one and we need to take advantage of technology that allows goods to move as effectively, efficiently, and safely as possible from one place to another,” said Secretary Carlson. KDOT is conducting site surveys for PrePass systems at weigh stations along I-70 in Olathe, Wabaunsee County and Kanorado.

Launched in 1995, PrePass is operational at 151 locations with an additional 49 sites committed to be deployed. Neighboring states, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Nebraska are currently using the system.

The cooperation between the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Kansas Department of Transportation, PrePass and Kansas Motor Carriers Association will expedite the movement of freight by truck in and through Kansas. KMCA’s 1,400 member trucking companies will benefit from the deployment of electronic clearance provided by PrePass,” said Tom Whitaker, KMCA Executive Director.