Electronic Data Interchange: A Tool to Change Business Practices Between State Regulators and the Motor Carrier Industry

Throughout the next decade the application of technology to promote efficient transportation will occur at an unprecedented velocity. A new vision of tomorrow's freight transportation system has been created by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). By requiring all states to participate in the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) and the International Registration Plan (IRP), and through funding of an Intelligent Vehicle-Highway System Program (IVHS), a new transportation system dependent upon the implementation and use of a variety of computer and communication technologies will be developed.

In terms of regulatory functions, neither the states nor the motor carrier industry has traditionally been technology oriented. Today, state regulators and motor carriers are in a unique position to begin evaluating technologies which may streamline their processing requirements and business operations -- electronic data interchange (EDI) and IVHS technologies will be the facilitating tools. Through electronic data links many of the regulatory and compliance processing requirements may be reduced and/or eliminated between the states and the motor carrier industry.

States and the motor carrier industry must collectively work together to determine the benefits and problems of these “electronic partnerships.”