Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has introduced an initiative for carrying out field inspections of heavy trucks using drones. The inspection teams of the Licensing Agency have used drones for inspections of heavy vehicles since last year.

"We had identified all the various cases of heavy vehicles that can be inspected using drones. This creative national initiative utilises artificial intelligence technologies onboard drones to carry out inspections of trucks. RTA has trained nine officials, who were accredited by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, to act as Drone Operators," said Mohammed Nabhan, Director of Licensing Activities Monitoring, Licensing Agency, RTA.

"The drone inspection had improved the operational efficiency of field inspections of heavy vehicles and eased the difficulties encountered by inspectors when inspecting parts of heavy vehicles, which are normally difficult to access. Since we started using drones in heavy vehicle inspections last year, we have conducted more than 300 inspections, recording 580 flying minutes and resulting in reporting 48 offences," said Nabhan.

"The use of drones in field inspections of heavy vehicles reduces the vulnerability of inspectors to incidents associated with the climbing onto the vehicle to inspect the upper areas and verify the technical faults and aspects related to shipping and loading instructions to detect any violations related to cargo stipulations. The main offences listed in this regard are unlicensed protruding cargo, failure to cover the cargo as per the approved stipulations, use of the heavy vehicle in loading and transporting cargo not designated to that type of vehicles, failure to distribute the cargo properly, failure to secure the cargo or loading the cargo in a way that constitutes risks to others or damages the road, monitor trucks with technical faults (such as body erosion), and report trucks avoiding inspection points," he said.

This initiative is compatible with the UAE Strategy for the 4th Industrial Revolution, launched by the Government in 2017. The strategy aims to enhance the role and profile of the UAE as a global hub for the 4th Industrial Revolution and contribute to a competitive national economy driven by knowledge, innovation, and futuristic applications that integrate physical and digital technologies. This strategy reflects the government’s drive to make the UAE a leading global model in proactively tackling future challenges, and harnessing 4th Industrial Revolution technologies to serve and bring happiness to community members, in line with RTA’s vision to become, ‘The world leader in seamless and sustainable mobility.’