In an effort to make the nearly 800,000 daily truck shipments of hazardous materials safe from terrorist hijacking, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has scheduled a two-year test to measure security.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) test will assess the effectiveness of different technologies and procedures, and determine the costs and benefits of each to the safety and security of hazardous materials. It will independently assess which combination of technology and procedures is the safest and most cost-effective for protecting different types of hazardous cargo, according to DOT information.
The effort will include 100 trucks equipped with a variety of existing technologies, and will test capabilities such as biometric driver verification, off-route vehicle alerts, stolen vehicle alerts, cargo tampering alerts, and remote vehicle disabling.
In addition to $2.5 million provided by the federal government, additional funding for the project comes from the trucking industry's private and public sectors, according to the information.
DOT has awarded the contract for the project to the Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus OH. The Battelle team includes the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the American Transportation Research Institute, Qualcomm Inc, Total Security Services International Inc, and several motor carrier companies and technology component vendors.
Several DOT agencies will participate in the project, led by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Other agencies taking part include the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, Research and Special Programs Administration, Federal Highway Administration, and the Office of Intermodalism.