Maryland One Electronic Permit System Saves Truckers $6 Million in Fees
November 7, 2016 - Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan reports that the trucking industry will save $6 million in fees annually with the Maryland One System automated permitting process.
The Maryland One System is an automated truck permit system for state toll and Baltimore City roads that eliminates the final vestiges of manual paper processing. The system has reduced overweight hauling permit processing from days and weeks to hours and eliminates review fees.
Maryland receives more than 140,000 overweight/oversize permit applications each year which, until recently, required engineers to manually review for safety. Now, Maryland One is auto-issuing 69 percent of applications the same day or even within hours of submission. At this point, 97 percent of these permits are issued within two days or less, while it previously took up to 10 or more days. With the automation, the trucking industry has 24/7, immediate access to initiate, revise and update permits as needed. Having one system for all permits offers streamlined billing and invoicing for customers. The routing function automatically provides the best route along Maryland highways and provides suggestions for continuity of service onto county roads.
Since May, overweight/oversized trucks crossed 2,378,885 bridges under 50,756 permits, with an average of 47 bridges. The previous review fee was $8 per bridge. With 35,000 automated permits, or 69 percent, industry is getting quicker permits and has saved $3 million in fees since late May, estimated to be more than $6 million annually.
In the same period, the state saved $440,000 plus in wages for work hours that would have been spent reviewing permits. The technology automates the tedious process that once required bridge engineers and motor carrier experts to individually analyze each overweight move to determine the safest route, calculate the safe speed, and reduce the overall impact on road infrastructure, especially bridges.
Maryland One relieves staff to focus on “Super-load” and “Mega-Load” moves from 500,000 to more than a million pounds, which means quicker turn around on more complex moves that require more scrutiny for safe travel. In 2015, there were more than 100 mega moves in Maryland.
The Maryland One System was recognized this month with the Bentley “Be Inspired” Special Recognition Award in London, England, as part of the “The Year in Infrastructure 2016 Conference.”
“The Maryland One System makes transporting goods through our state significantly easier and less expensive,” said Governor Hogan. “Maryland is delivering on our promise to be more business friendly, reduce fees, and put money back into the pockets of hard-working Maryland families and businesses."
