Transportation

While AI can scale fault detection across rail networks, the process only succeeds when railway inspection crews confirm conditions on site. Crews verify each alert’s location and severity, capture photos, measurements, and GPS data, and document everything within structured workflows. Human-in-the-loop validation turns automated detection into actionable maintenance, cutting errors, reducing backlog, and keeping rail repairs aligned with real-world conditions. In addition, field verification keeps inspection data tied to actual track infrastructure and supports Federal Railroad Administration compliance requirements.

If it’s got four (or 18) wheels, sooner or later it will give you problems.  From maintenance headaches to inspection snags to outright accidents, a lot can go wrong when you’re dealing with one vehicle, not to mention a fleet of them. A digital field inspection platform for fleet management can help minimize risk – and address problems when they develop.

In late 2021, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) encountered a severe problem. A former contract worker was accused of falsifying up to 3,000 electric system inspections over two years. The deception was revealed when a power pole, allegedly inspected and declared free of rot, collapsed into a residential backyard. It sent a live electrical wire into a swimming pool, fortunately without causing any injuries.

We depend on millions of commercial vehicles — from semi-trailers to school buses — to transport people and goods every day. And every year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducts about 4 million fleet inspections across North America to ensure they are operating safely.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly common in mapping, offering affordable aerial imagery on demand. Once an expensive hobby for tinkerers, UAVs have quickly transformed into a disruptive force in the geospatial industry. The ability to deploy a cost-effective, agile sensor platform for real-time surveying has unlocked vast possibilities for data collection.

One of the best places to go for exploring the data collection possibilities of Fulcrum is our App Gallery, which includes many pre-built app templates for different types of field surveys, across dozens of industry sectors. Today I’ll be discussing three of our latest featured additions to the gallery catalog to demonstrate the flexibility of Fulcrum to meet a wide variety of requirements: traffic sign inventory, erosion control monitoring, and construction safety.