11. Conclusions
This complex HAZMAT Safety and Security Technology Field Operational Test was conducted in the pursuit of improving Homeland Security vis-à-vis protection of truck-based hazardous materials shipments. With over 800,000 HAZMAT shipments per day with the staggering potential consequences in terms of deaths, injuries, property damage, and business disruption of even one shipment used by terrorists for an attack the immediacy of implementing countermeasures rapidly is obvious. With resources in limited supply and many counter-terrorism fronts to contend with, meeting the "clear and present danger" to HAZMAT trucking requires implementing solutions that are currently available, reduce risk, and that provide tangible and quickly realized benefits to stakeholders proportional to their level of investment.
This evaluation examined the technical and financial performance of several promising technologies for increasing the security of HAZMAT shipments to determine what levels of operational efficiency and security benefits can be attained through deployment of the technologies. The evaluation also examined the levels of investment required to equip fleets with the technologies. Based on the evaluation of the test technologies, the following conclusions are presented in Sections 11.1 through 11.6 of this synthesis document.
11.1 Technical Efficacy
Technology performance overall for the technologies was good, with most technologies performing well under operational conditions with the exception of Biometric Login, and to a lesser Electronic Seals and ESCM. These latter two technologies were deemed as requiring additional technical development for the HAZMAT trucking environment.
The core enabling technology for the test suites, Wireless Communications with GPS tracking capabilities, has been deployed commercially for several years and performed per expectations during the FOT. The technology also demonstrated its ability to integrate additional security functions with the established communications network providing a reliable data transfer mechanism.
The Panic Button, vehicle disabling, trailer tracking, and Geofencing applications of the core enabling technologies also performed per specification.
As described in this synthesis document, the Biometric identification units supporting Biometric driver logins and access to the ESCM need to be more "forgiving" for climatic conditions and physical application of drivers' fingers to the Readers. The E-seal system, even after undergoing modification during the FOT, showed cycle times considered too long by the participants. Additionally, a more user-friendly software interface is recommended. The ESCM, as demonstrated in a previous test of application and during this FOT, requires the development of interfaces with other systems used by motor carriers. The integration of ESCM with carrier systems would increase usage of the system.
11.2 Efficiency
The core enabling technology is the only technology tested that demonstrated tangible operational efficiency gains within the limits of this FOT. Productivity gains in terms of increased personnel and asset utilization are found to outweigh the costs of deploying the technology with relatively attractive payback on investment periods. With the proven reliability of the technology in the market place and appropriateness of application to a wide range of fleets significant industry benefits could be realized through full deployment – with net benefits over costs of up to $1 billion per year. Even with attractive ROI and low payback periods, capital constraints, institutional inertia (comfort with doing business in fixed ways), and myriad low-cost communications options are likely to make penetration of this market a long-term enterprise, especially in the smaller fleet categories.
11.3 Security
The technology suites tested during the FOT, given further development (as described for the "emerging" technologies – those not commercially available for the HAZMAT trucking market) show promise for significantly reducing vulnerabilities and hence, reducing potential impacts of terrorist attacks. It should be recognized that technology alone, at best, could only address approximately one-third of the potential HAZMAT-based consequences.
The core enabling technology also provides significant security benefits. The implication is that the core enabling technology has the capability of more than covering its costs to motor carriers while providing a significant security benefit to society. Given this, policy makers should consider how best to further reduce costs through several possible mechanisms and promulgate information to motor carriers.
The remaining technologies do show considerable potential security benefits (societal benefits), but not necessarily realized by the motor carriers, such as both the E-seal and OBC with door lock are potential security improvements in the attempt to bolster en transit cargo protection. Both technologies in theory enable remote detection of an intrusion of the trailer by an unauthorized party at any point from pick up to delivery of cargo and to some extent make it more difficult for entry into the trailer.
Therefore, decision makers need to weigh the potential investment versus additional security benefits for the technologies and if deemed desirable, then work with the HAZMAT industry (shippers, carriers and consignees) to move towards deployment in an equitable fashion.
11.4 Safety
The benefits of the technologies as deployed, focus on enhanced driver monitoring capabilities, reduced exposure to crashes, and enhanced HAZMAT incident response. Within this framework, participant opinion indicates that the technical capabilities of the test technologies, coupled with best practices in motor carrier driver/safety management and public sector incident response, show promise for enhancing the safety of truck-based HAZMAT shipments. The technologies demonstrated enhanced ability to monitor drivers and vehicles and provide notification of emergencies with location and load characteristics in a more timely manner and potentially detailed manner than traditional methods (thus, potentially enhancing emergency response).
Through enhanced fleet management enabled by the core technology of Wireless Communications with GPS positioning, fewer non-revenue miles can be realized. Assuming these miles translate directly to fewer overall miles driven, potential benefits in terms of crash avoidance due to reduced exposure were conservatively estimated to be $5 million annually.
11.5 Deployment Potential
As described in the previous sections, the core enabling technology for the test suites has the capability to enhance motor carriers' operational efficiencies and generate benefits in excess of deployment costs. Recognition on the part of the technology vendor community of the variability in the needs of HAZMAT trucking operations and responding by providing the basic core functions adapted to specific types of operations and at a range of pricing/financing options should drive motor carrier adoption of the technology and make it a prevalent fleet management technology in the future. This market-based move towards increased market penetration may be at a less robust pace than the increasing need of securing truck-based HAZMAT shipments. In this case, governmental intervention (discussed as policy options in Section 10.2 of this synthesis document) may be required.
For the technologies that build upon the core technology, market forces are unlikely to support strong adoption of the technologies, at least in the foreseeable future. A possible exception may be imposition of requirements for technology imposed by shippers/consignees that would create a "derived demand" on the part of HAZMAT trucking operations to adopt the technologies.
11.6 Public Sector PSRC Concept
As a "proof-of-concept" system, the PSRC provides a model for enhanced information exchange between public and private sector HAZMAT stakeholders by providing law enforcement and emergency response personnel access to accurate, timely, and action-oriented information. As a solution, the PSRC system holds the potential to enable law enforcement and emergency response personnel to respond to intentional and unintentional incidents associated with the transportation of hazardous materials.
For future PSRC or similar system concept testing the following elements should be considered as enhancements to the current PSRC concept:
- A robust, standardized central data repository for data storage and retrieval must be created with built in redundancy for information collection, fusion and dissemination.
- An effective interface must be developed to filter data to ensure that sensitive or corrupt data remains outside of any data delivery through the PSRC. As the recipient of key information, the PSRC must forward only critical information to public sector users in a prioritized and easy to manage format, which can be easily integrated with their current systems.
- The PSRC serves as the link between data sources collecting the initial data on one end and delivering the alert notification data on the other. On the data collection side, mostly private carrier data is the primary source data for the PSRC at this point. In the future, it may be desirable to include information from sources (criminal databases, state commercial vehicle systems, terrorism watch lists, etc.) that might provide in-depth information relevant to criminal or security activity.
11.7 Policy Options
As described in Section 10 of this synthesis document, significant issues exist that need to be addressed to move towards deployment of the promising security technologies. Governmental strategies that can be employed to encourage deployment include:
- Support of research and development for adoption of commercially available and emerging technologies that show promise for enhancing security through continued field-testing. This support can involve extending the testing conducted in this FOT over time and across a larger number of motor carriers.
- Creation of financial incentives to encourage research and development and purchase of technologies such as grants or facilitating cooperative purchasing arrangements.
- Legislative and procedural action to address data privacy issues.
- Promote technology acceptance through focused outreach and public relations efforts.
- Craft regulation/rulemaking requiring the adoption of solutions to address HAZMAT trucking vulnerabilities. These should be performance-based requirements that provide motor carriers flexibility in how they meet the requirements.
