Implementation and Development of Vehicle Tracking and Immobilization Technologies

Since the mid-1980s, limited use has been made of vehicle tracking using satellite communications to mitigate the security and safety risks created by the highway transportation of certain types of hazardous materials. However, vehicle-tracking technology applied to safety and security is increasingly being researched and piloted, and it has been the subject of several government reports and legislative mandates. At the same time, the motor carrier industry has been investing in and implementing vehicle tracking, for a number of reasons, particularly the increase in efficiency achieved through better management of both personnel (drivers) and assets (trucks or, as they are known, tractors; cargo loads; and trailers). While vehicle tracking and immobilization technologies can play a significant role in preventing truck-borne hazardous materials from being used as weapons against key targets, they are not a & ”silver bullet.” However, the experience of DTTS and the FMCSA and TSA pilot projects indicates that when these technologies are combined with other security measures, and when the information they provide is used in conjunction with information supplied outside of the tracking system, they can provide defensive value to any effort to protect assets from attacks using hazmat as a weapon. This report is a sister publication to MTI Report 09-03, Potential Terrorist Uses of Highway-Borne Hazardous Materials. That publication was created in response to the Department of Homeland Security´s request that the Mineta Transportation Institute´s National Transportation Security Center of Excellence provide research and insights regarding the security risks created by the highway transportation of hazardous materials

Potential Terrorist Uses of Highway-Borne Hazardous Materials, MTI Report 09-03

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested that the Mineta Transportation Institutes National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (MTI NTSCOE) provide any research it has or insights it can provide on the security risks created by the highway transportation of hazardous materials. This request was submitted to MTI/NSTC as a National Transportation Security Center of Excellence. In response, MTI/NTSC reviewed and revised research performed in 2007 and 2008 and assembled a small team of terrorism and emergency-response experts, led by Center Director Brian Michael Jenkins, to report on the risks of terrorists using highway shipments of flammable liquids (e.g., gasoline tankers) to cause casualties anywhere, and ways to reduce those risks. This report has been provided to DHS. The teams first focus was on surface transportation targets, including highway infrastructure, and also public transportation stations. As a full understanding of these materials, and their use against various targets became revealed, the team shifted with urgency to the far more plentiful targets outside of surface transportation where people gather and can be killed or injured. However, the team is concerned to return to the top of the use of these materials against public transit stations and recommends it as a separate subject for urgent research

Multiple Case Comparison of the In-Transit Visibility Business Process

Over the past decade, the Department of Defense has developed an In-transit Visibility capability. Despite significant funding and research in developing this capability, the initial deployment in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) in 2001 highlighted an ongoing problem to achieve ITV within the U.S. Air Force. Initial results from Headquarters USAF initiated studies point to a need to focus on business processes related ITV management. This research employed a multiple case study design embedded in a functional benchmarking process to solicit ITV management best practices from leaders in the civilian logistics industry and to identify gaps between their practices and those of the Air Force. The data collection method used electronic mail as a portal to conducting subject matter expert interviews. Using the data collected from the benchmarking partners, the research recognized 19 best practices and compared the civilian and military environments in 41 areas. This evaluation highlighted gaps between practices used in the civilian industry and those used by the Air Force. These gaps served as areas of opportunity in which the Air Force can evaluate alternative management practices in an effort to improve the ITV process. Using these gaps as a foundation, the research proposed fourteen recommendations for action

Feasibility Study of RFID Technology for Construction Load Tracking

INE/AUTC 10.0

Towards the adoption of technological innovations: decision processes in transport policy definition

The widespread of technological innovations is rapidly changing the way modern societies are organized. Such phenomenon highly affects the economy of most developed countries (and, more recently, of developing countries, too), influencing work organization and habits. Besides, technological innovations modify the way in which transport systems are organized, by introducing new transport solutions as well as by upgrading the performances of the existing transport systems, in accordance to a more efficient organization. Several tools have been designed to predict the effects of the adoption of technological innovations in transport. The aim of this paper is to deal with the decision processes involved in the definition of the transport policies for the introduction of such technological solutions. To do this the way in which the new transport solutions affect the local context is analysed. In particular, this work aim to identify the most relevant attributes which influence the decision processes on the adoption of such technological solutions, with reference to their impact on the territory and on the economic activities. To do this, the analysis focuses on the effects involved by the use of wireless technologies and radio frequency identification into seaport infrastructures. Such technologies enable an easier identification of goods in transport terminals; this implies advantages in the organization of the terminal activities, allowing lower time and costs for handling, and at the same time it ensures a greater compliance to security requirements, thus upgrading the level of the performances in these transport systems. On the other hand, the effects of the improvements in transport systems affect the economic context in which transport infrastructures are set. Thus, the adoption of such a technological innovation can represent the chance for local development of the region, due to the better performances of the transport system and to the consequent increased territorial accessibility.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation: The Future of Commercial Trucking Across the Mexican Border

[Excerpt] NAFTA set forth a schedule for implementing its trucking provisions that would have opened the border states to cross-border trucking competition in 1995 and all of North America in 2000, but full implementation has been stalled because of concern with the safety of Mexican trucks. Congress first addressed these concerns in the FY2002 Department of Transportation Appropriations Act (P.L. 107-87) which set 22 safety-related preconditions for opening the border to long-haul Mexican trucks. In November 2002, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that all the preconditions had been met and began processing Mexican applications for U.S. long-haul authority. However, a suit over environmental compliance delayed implementation further. After the suit was resolved, in February 2007, the U.S. and Mexican Secretaries of Transportation announced a demonstration project to implement the NAFTA trucking provisions. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the United States beyond the border commercial zones. Up to 100 Mexico-domiciled carriers would be allowed to operate throughout the United States for one year and Mexico would allow the same for up to 100 U.S.-based carriers. With passage of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veteran’s Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 110-28), Congress mandated additional requirements before the project could begin. After failing to defund the demonstration project in the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161), Congress succeeded in terminating the demonstration project through a provision in the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8). Subsequently, Mexico announced it would retaliate by increasing import duties on 90 U.S. products. The Obama Administration has indicated it intends to propose a revamped program that will address the concerns of Congress. The FY2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117) passed in December 2009 did not preclude funds from being spent on a long-haul Mexican truck pilot program, provided the terms and conditions stipulated in section 350 of P.L. 107-87 and section 6901 of P.L. 110-28 were satisfied. One truck safety statistic, “out-of-service” rates, indicates that Mexican trucks operating in the United States are now safer than they were a decade ago. The data indicate that Mexican trucks and drivers have a comparable safety record to U.S. truckers. Another study indicates that the truck driver is usually the more critical factor in causing accidents than a safety defect with the truck itself. Service characteristics of long-haul trucking suggest that substandard carriers would likely not succeed in this market. As shipment distance increases, the relative cost of trucking compared to rail increases, and thus shippers utilizing long-haul trucking are willing to pay more because they require premium service, such as precise delivery windows or cargo refrigeration. These exacting service requirements would seem to disqualify truckers with unreliable equipment or incompetent drivers. In contrast, the short-haul “drayage” carriers that Mexican long-haul carriers would displace, typically use older equipment because of the many hours spent idling awaiting customs processing at the border. If Mexican carriers do eventually receive long-haul authority, the short term impact is expected to be gradual as Mexican firms deal with a number of stumbling blocks, including lack of prearranged back hauls and higher insurance and capital costs, in addition to the customs processing delays. In the long run, use of drayage companies is likely to decline as they lose part of their market share to Mexican long-haul carriers. The most common trips for these carriers will probably be from the Mexican interior to warehouse facilities on the U.S. side of the border or to nearby cities in the border states

TDOT 25-Year Long-Range Transportation Policy Plan, Travel Trends & System Performance Policy Paper

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-dept-transportation-25-year-transportation-policy/1001/thumbnail.jp