Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced the beginning of its Hazardous Materials Safety and Security Field Operational Test. This test will measure the effectiveness of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) safety and security technologies for safeguarding hazardous materials being transported by trucks.

The announcement was made today by FMCSA Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety Officer John Hill at the California Goods Movement and Port Security Conference in Long Beach, CA, hosted by the California Alliance for Advanced Transportation Systems (CAATS).

"We must build on our continuous efforts to ensure the security of the more than 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials hauled on U.S. highways every day," U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said. "This operational test will help improve security and will help spur innovative technologies for safeguarding hazardous materials in the future."

The field operational test will quantify the costs and benefits associated with transportation security technologies. FMCSA believes this information will assist companies in their decisions to deploy technology applications that are most appropriate for their businesses.

A prototype test is scheduled later this month, with full-scale testing to begin in late August. The field operational test, managed by FMCSA and largely funded by DOT's ITS Program, will be completed in the latter part of 2004.

The test will involve 100 trucks equipped with a variety of existing technologies. The technologies will be packaged in several different cost tiers, and will be tested across four different transportation scenarios. The project will test the capabilities of technologies such as:

Driver verification using password logins, fingerprint biometrics and smart cards;
Vehicle and load tracking, using satellites and other wireless systems;
Off-route and stolen vehicle alerts, using geo-fencing;
Cargo tampering alerts, using electronic seals;
Driver distress alerts, using driver panic buttons; and
Remote vehicle disabling in instances of known terrorist attacks.

Carriers and shippers that have expressed their intent to participate in the test include BP Chemicals, Cox Petroleum, Distribution Technologies, Dupre Transport, Dyno Nobel Transportation, ExxonMobil, GE Betz, Hercules Incorporated, Orica USA Inc., Quality Carriers, Roadway Express, Inc., Roeder Cartage Co., Inc., R&R Trucking, The Dow Chemical Company, and Transport Service Co.

The ITS field operational test deployment team is led by the Battelle Memorial Institute. Deployment team members include QUALCOMM, Inc., the American Transportation Research Institute, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, TotalSecurity.US, Savi Technology and Information Systems Support.

Participating state agencies include the California Highway Patrol, Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Public Safety, New York State Police and the New York State DOT. Original equipment and engine manufacturers also involved in the field operational test include Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Inc., Detroit Diesel Corporation, Freightliner Truck Group, and International Truck and Engine Corporation.

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