2. Requirements (Page 2 of 7) - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Trailer identification is established via position reports sent from the UTT system terminal on the trailer. The UTT system terminal monitors the Global Positioning System (GPS) for its location, checks other on-board sensors, and sends this information over the air (OTA). The information presented to the user includes the trailer identification number (ID) and trailer type, as well as the user Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC). The user can view the host software to find the latest trailer location and status on a map. Trailer locations are displayed relative to predefined landmarks or street or highway intersections. The trailer status refers primarily to three key pieces of information: whether the trailer has cargo or is empty, whether the door is open or closed, and whether the trailer is connected or disconnected to a tractor. If the latest scheduled report is not sufficiently current, the user can request an update from the UTT system terminal. The request will be answered immediately if the terminal is awake. Otherwise, the request will be queued until the next scheduled wake-up time.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.1.1 The UTT system allows a user to request and obtain the current trailer status information from the terminal, which includes at minimum the trailer position, cargo status, door status, and status of any other sensors, if installed.

2.1.1.2 The UTT terminal shall wake up to listen for status requests at user-configurable intervals, which will include at minimum: never; once per 30 minutes; and once per 1, 2, 6, 8, and 12 hours.

2.1.1.3 The UTT terminal shall default to wake up and listen for requests for status once per 6 hours.

2.1.2 Time of Trailer Connection and Disconnection

Definition

The time of trailer connection and disconnection refers to the time that a trailer is physically connected or disconnected from a tractor. For example, a trailer is typically disconnected from the tractor when the tractor-trailer arrives at a destination where the trailer may be unloaded while the tractor departs to pick up and move another trailer. For this pilot test, the ID number of a tractor connected to or being disconnected from a trailer will be visible only when the trailer is interfacing with a tractor equipped with the QUALCOMM OmniTRACS satellite mobile communications tracking system on the tractor.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.2.1 The UTT system shall detect and record time of trailer connections and disconnections.

2.1.2.2 The connection and disconnection times recorded by the UTT system shall be accurate within 15 minutes of the actual connection and disconnection times.

2.1.2.3 The UTT system connection and disconnection events shall be sent immediately upon validation by default.

2.1.3 Trailer Location and Mapping

Definition

Trailer positions are established via GPS or other locating technology. The UTT system terminal is configurable to wake up to check for positions at user-defined intervals. Once the position has been established, the coordinates are reported to the user visually at the carrier site through a map interface. Although latitude and longitude are provided, the user would normally see the trailer's position on a map with reference to highways, streets, intersections, or user-defined landmarks.

UTT system communication coverage for the United States is expected to be greater than 90% of the geographical area of the 48 contiguous states. Although complete coverage in Canada and Mexico may be beneficial, it is not listed as a requirement due to a dependency on third-party telecommunication providers.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.3.1 UTT system position reporting intervals shall be user-configurable OTA.

2.1.3.2 UTT system position reporting intervals shall be configurable at a minimum to: never; 15 minutes; 1, 6, 8, 12, 24 hours; and then once per day until the 30th day. (Reporting intervals that are more frequent than 15 minutes may be utilized in certain instances, such as trying to locate a stolen trailer.)

2.1.3.3 UTT system position reporting intervals of less than 60 minutes shall be configurable by the system administrators only, unless system administrators have given a user the capability to change the position reporting interval to less than 60 minutes. (The purpose of this requirement is to prevent excessive messaging and battery drain, especially for users who may not clearly understand the constraints of the system.)

2.1.3.4 The UTT system shall provide a daily interval for position reports by default.

2.1.3.5 The UTT system shall provide the configurable capability to suppress scheduled position reports when power is detected on Pin 7 of the SAE J560 connector. (The SAE J560 is the standard connector used to connect the electrical system of a trailer to a tractor, and power on Pin 7 may indicate that a tractor is attached to the trailer. If there is a mobile communications system on a tractor tethered to a trailer, position reports may be more cost effectively sent from the tractor system versus the UTT system. When the tractor mobile communications system is non-operational or more frequent trailer positioning updates are required, the UTT system can be effectively utilized to provide this information.)

2.1.3.6 The UTT system shall support a mapping module including street-level maps for the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

2.1.3.7 The UTT system shall provide visibility to active geo-fences, cargo event locations, door event locations, connection and disconnection locations, and historical positions on maps. (For the UTT system tested in the pilot test, geo-fences will be visible on maps as polygons or circles overlaid on the map, and geo-fence violations will be visible as icons appearing in a line item for a trailer.)

2.1.3.8 The UTT system shall allow users to view one or more selected trailers with proximity from pre-defined landmarks on a map display. (For the UTT system tested in the pilot test, there is no maximum limit to the number of trailers that may be displayed on maps, although in an area densely populated with trailers, viewing can be difficult. A pop-up list of 'hidden' trailers provides visibility to the trailers that may be overlapped on the display.)

2.1.3.9 The UTT system shall provide the ability for users to view the position history of a trailer on a map display for a user selected period of time or a default setting to the prior week.

Landmarks

2.1.3.10 The UTT system software shall support the creation, modification, and deletion of custom landmarks by authorized users.

2.1.3.11 The UTT system software shall support the display of trailer positions with proximity to the nearest custom landmark, if configured as such under user's preferences. This allows the user to display all position reports in terms of the trailer's proximity to a landmark.

2.1.3.12 The UTT system software shall support the query for trailers near a specified landmark within a specified distance, which allows the user to query for any trailer within a certain distance from a landmark.

2.1.4 Geo-fencing

Definition

A geo-fence is an electronic boundary that a user can create to monitor trailer location and movement. Geo-fences may be created, viewed, and edited visually on an interactive map. For example, a user could locate a trailer on a map and draw a geo-fence around the trailer position by clicking and dragging a mouse. The geo-fence may be assigned to a trailer or to groups of trailers. Once the geo-fence is set and configured to provide an alert, the terminal will send a notification to the user if the trailer crosses the geo-fence boundary. The geo-fence will send an alert when a trailer exits or enters the boundary through an email or pager notification. Geo-fences may also be removed or inactivated for trailers or groups of trailers at any time.

The UTT system will provide an on-board geo-fence with event-driven exception reporting. Exception-driven reporting will allow the UTT system to monitor trailer position and check for geo-fence breaks frequently but send a message only if a geo-fence break is detected. Frequent checking for geo-fence breaks without sending frequent messages lowers messaging costs and increases battery life.

A geo-fence might be used to ensure that a trailer remained in a general area, such as the Los Angeles basin. In this example, the user would create a geo-fence around Los Angeles and then assign that geo-fence to a trailer or group of trailers. If a trailer was taken from the Los Angeles area, an alert would be generated and the user notified. This type of geo-fence might permanently remain in effect if this trailer or group of trailers were meant to stay in that area indefinitely. A geo-fence could also be created around a particular destination, such as a receiving warehouse. When the trailer entered this geo-fence, an alert would be generated so that the user would know that the trailer was delivered within a certain timeframe.

Using the UTT system, a user can set a self-centered geo-fence, which provides a quick way to set a geo-fence without forcing the user to locate the area on the map. A self-centered geo-fence uses the position of the trailer at the time of receiving the "set self-centered geo-fence" command to create the geo-fence boundary. The user does not have to create the geo-fence on a map or choose settings for that geo-fence. As with any geo-fence, an alert will notify the user if the trailer breaks the geo-fence boundary while the geo-fence is active.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.4.1 All UTT system generated geo-fences shall have configurable start and end dates.

2.1.4.2 The UTT system shall support a single geo-fence per trailer, which may be reset OTA.

2.1.4.3 The UTT system terminal shall monitor the geo-fence at configurable intervals of 15 minutes; 1, 6, 8, 12, or 24 hours.

2.1.4.4 The UTT system geo-fence monitoring interval shall default to once per hour.

2.1.4.5 The UTT system geo-fence alert shall be configurable to be sent immediately upon validation, saved and sent with the next planned status message, or disabled.

2.1.4.6 The UTT system geo-fences shall be configurable to generate an alert on exit, entry, or both.

2.1.4.7 The UTT system software shall support the assignment and deletion of geo-fences to individual trailers.

2.1.4.8 The UTT system software shall support the display of geo-fence summary data containing the trailer ID/SCAC; last known position; geo-fence status; last geo-fence alert message with location, door, cargo, and connect events; timestamps; and alert acknowledgement status.

2.1.4.9 All UTT system geo-fence sizes shall be configurable.

2.1.4.10 The UTT system shall support a self-centered geo-fence that is centered at the terminal location at time of receipt of the geo-fence command.

2.1.4.11 The UTT system self-centered geo-fence default size shall be a square of 0.5 miles x 0.5 miles. (Note: 0.5 x 0.5 miles has been a useful setting in practice, but this setting and all other self-centered geo-fence default settings may be configurable by users. The UTT system in the pilot test allows the setting of a geo-fence as follows: East/West length from 500 to 40,000,000 meters and North/South Length from 500 to 20,000,000 meters.)

2.1.4.12 The self-centered geo-fence default configuration shall be activated upon receipt by the UTT system terminal.

2.1.4.13 The UTT system self-centered geo-fence default configuration shall remain active until deactivated by the user.

2.1.4.14 The UTT system self-centered geo-fence default configuration shall be to send an alert when a trailer exits the geo-fence boundary.

2.1.4.15 The UTT system self-centered geo-fence default configuration shall be to send alerts immediately, as opposed to saving alerts and sending them along with the next scheduled status message.

2.1.4.16 The UTT system self-centered geo-fence default configuration settings shall be editable by system administrators.

2.1.5 Trailer Cargo Sensing

Definition

As a part of the UTT system, an ultrasonic sensor detects the presence of cargo in the trailer by indicating if the trailer is unloaded or loaded. A cargo "event" is defined as the transition from completely unloaded to partially or completely loaded or vice-versa. The UTT system terminal wakes up to check the cargo status at a predefined frequency, and a status message may be sent depending on user-chosen settings. For example, an erroneous detection could occur if a person walks into the trailer at the moment the sensor is taking a reading of cargo status. In this case, assuming the person exits the trailer, a second check would show the true unloaded state of the trailer. Validation of cargo events decreases the probability of erroneous state detections.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.5.1 The cargo sensor shall be configurable to monitor at four or more different frequencies, including once every 10, 30, 60, or 120 minutes.

2.1.5.2 The cargo sensor shall be monitored at least once every 30 minutes by default.

2.1.5.3 The cargo event message shall be configurable to be sent immediately upon validation, saved and sent with the next planned status message, or disabled.

2.1.5.4 The cargo event message shall be sent immediately upon validation by default.

2.1.5.5 The cargo sensor validation shall be configurable as follows: If a cargo state change is detected, the cargo sensor shall wait an interval of X minutes prior to rechecking, and shall recheck Y times, where X may be 5, 10, 30, or 120 minutes and Y may be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

2.1.5.6 The cargo sensor default validation setting shall be to recheck one time (Y=1) after five minutes (X=5).

2.1.5.7 The cargo event message shall include trailer position, if available. If the position is not available, the message shall provide the last known position with a timestamp or "position unknown".

2.1.5.8 The cargo event status message shall include the last known cargo state (loaded or not loaded) and time of the last known cargo state.

2.1.5.9 All of the above configurable parameters of the cargo sensor shall be OTA configurable by the user.

2.1.6 Trailer Door Sensing

Definition

As a part of the UTT system, the trailer door sensor monitors for an open or closed door on the trailer. A door event is defined as the transition from open to closed or from closed to open. The trailer door sensor can work in conjunction with the cargo sensor, so that only those door state changes that might affect cargo are sent to the user. For example, it is possible to configure the system to send door open events if there is cargo in the trailer and to ignore door open events if the trailer is empty.

For the pilot test, only trailers with a single set of doors will be monitored, and a door opening alert will only be sent when the trailer is loaded.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.6.1 The door sensor shall be configurable to trigger an event if the door goes from closed to open and remains open for a configurable amount of time, where the time may be 5, 10, or 30 seconds; or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes.

2.1.6.2 The door sensor shall be configurable to trigger an event if the door goes from open to closed and remains closed for a configurable amount of time, where the time may be 30 seconds; 1, 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes.

2.1.6.3 The default configuration shall be not to send door closed events.

2.1.6.4 The default configuration shall be to send an alert for door open events when the cargo sensor senses a loaded trailer.

2.1.6.5 Door events shall be configurable to be sent immediately upon validation, saved and sent with the next planned status message, or disabled.

2.1.6.6 Door event messages shall be sent immediately upon validation by default.

2.1.6.7 The door event message shall include position, if available.

2.1.6.8 The UTT system terminal shall automatically detect when a door sensor is installed.

2.1.6.9 All of the above configurable parameters of the door sensor shall be OTA configurable by the user.

2.1.7 Alerts

Definition

Alerts are generated by the UTT system host software and presented to the viewer through an alert icon that is displayed near the trailer ID. Alerts are based on a combination of user-preferred settings and events which are generated from the mobile terminal. Alerts are used to notify the user of events, such as geo-fence violations. Alerts can be configured to be forwarded to email or pager addresses.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.7.1 UTT system alerts shall meet the requirements for the cargo sensor, trailer door sensor, and geo-fence as specified in each respective section above.

2.1.7.2 UTT system alerts shall be configurable to be sent to a minimum of one email/pager address. (There is no requirement for a maximum number of addresses to which an alert may be forwarded.)

2.1.7.3 The UTT system software shall allow a user to acknowledge alert messages and then the UTT system shall log the corresponding user ID.

2.1.7.4 The UTT system software shall provide an optional alert for a trailer that has failed to send a scheduled status report for a period of X days, where X is configurable at any time. (It is advantageous to have the time period X be configurable in hours when the trailer is laden or in active use versus days when it is not in active use. Then, a user could choose to be notified if a status report was as little as one hour late.)

2.1.7.5 The UTT system software shall provide an optional alert for a trailer that has moved independently of its assigned tractor.

2.1.7.6 The UTT system software shall provide an optional alert for a trailer that has been disconnected outside of a specified distance from any one of a list of user-specified drop points.

2.1.7.7 The UTT system software shall provide an optional alert for a tractor that has sent a "load call" without being connected to a trailer. (A load call is a message sent from the tractor to a dispatcher indicating that it has connected to a trailer and is ready to depart.)

2.1.7.8 The UTT system software shall provide an optional alert for a trailer that reports a door open event while the trailer is not empty.

2.1.7.9 The UTT system software shall provide a way for the user to create and save an alert monitoring plan that may be assigned to trailers. (The purpose of this requirement is to help users specify alert settings quickly and easily for any trailer. Without a monitoring plan, the user would have to set each alert option and notification scheme for each trailer, which could be impractical.)

2.1.8 HERO Certification

Definition

A Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) certification for transmitting devices is required by the Department of Defense when ordnance is shipped. Background information on the certification process and tests can be found in MIL-HDBK-237B and MIL-HDBK-240, respectively. MIL-STD-464 specifies the requirements for HERO certification.

Transportation of goods involving ordnance is of particular concern due to the potential safety hazard. Hazards arise from ordnance that may be detonated through electromagnetic energy. HERO certification establishes the maximum levels of electromagnetic radiation that the transmitting device may discharge without risking a potential safety hazard.

Performance constraints and requirements

2.1.8.1 The UTT system terminal and all other mobile system components shall be HERO certified.

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