A Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) is a tool that utilizes weather forecasts and observations to assist managers in making appropriate decisions to best utilize resources when planning for and treating snow and ice. In 2002, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) joined a new pooled fund study (PFS) group to develop an operational MDSS following the same principles of an earlier FHWA MDSS prototype. INDOT participated in PFS MDSS field trials that showed significant savings in salt usage.

Therefore the INDOT’s Commissioner decided to implement MDSS statewide for the 2008-2009 winter at a cost of $529,000 for the equipment and vendor provided training. The cost of the system included 120 AVL/MDC units that were procured and installed into the INDOT fleet across the state, cellular air cards for use in the AVL/MDC systems and operational costs.