The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) within the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) sponsored a major field operational test (FOT) to assess the potential enhancement of the safety and security of hazardous materials transportation resulting from the application of various technologies. The Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety and Security Field Operational Test program was conducted from August, 2002 to August, 2004. The goal of the FOT was to demonstrate and assess the effectiveness of certain technological solutions for enhancing the safety and security of hazardous materials transportation by highway.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there was extremely heightened concern about the potential for terrorists to highjack a truck carrying hazardous materials or use it in some other fashion to commit a terrorist act. FMCSA made over 32,000 contacts and security sensitive visits with hazardous materials carriers. These contacts and visits resulted in over 280 findings of "suspicious activity" and over 125 referrals to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). FMCSA identified an important potential role for technology to help improve motor carrier hazmat security. This was the result not only of the findings from the motor carrier security visits, but also from working with internal DOT working groups including the Intermodal HM Task Force and the Hazmat Direct Action Group (DAG). The internal DOT evaluation of hazmat security vulnerabilities identified a number of action items and initiatives across DOT. One major initiative was the need to take a close look at commercially available, off-the-shelf technology that could be deployed in the near term to help fill some of the most glaring gaps in hazmat transportation security. This led to a competitive solicitation to field test and evaluate appropriate technologies and the selection of Battelle to lead the deployment team in August, 2002.

The Deployment Team

Battelle served as the prime contractor, program manager and system integrator for this project. Battelle assembled and led a "core team" of partners to address FMCSA's requirements. This core team included Qualcomm, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), formerly the American Trucking Association Research Foundation, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and Total Security Services International, Inc. (TSSI). The core team served as a central project planning group that set direction and responded to problems and issues as the project unfolded. The rest of the team involved technology providers for the test. Technology providers included Qualcomm, providing the wireless communication backbone and other technologies; Saflink providing the biometric smart card and electronic supply chain manifest technology; Savi Technology, Inc., providing its electronic cargo seal; and the Spill Center providing its integrated reporting system technology as the backbone for the public sector reporting center (Psrc) concept.

The Battelle deployment team included two organizations that represented the perspective of important stakeholders during the project (ATRI and CVSA), and the FOT included direct participation from six hazmat shippers, nine motor carriers, four consignees, and six state agencies in four states. In addition, a voluntary External Stakeholder Review Group was formed with selected members of the shipper, carrier, and enforcement communities and met periodically to review progress of the operational test and offered comments and opinions.

Framework to Conduct the Test

DOT provided the overall framework for the field test as part of its contractual scope of work. This is illustrated in Figure ES-1. The test was to include consideration of technologies that addressed potential vulnerabilities during the pickup, en route and delivery phases of a hazmat shipment. This framework embraced 25 specific functional requirements initially identified by DOT to be addressed during the test. DOT specified that the test was also to address four shipment scenarios, at least 100 trucks, four motor carriers, a total of 100 tractor-trailer units, four shippers, four receivers, and HM industry and state safety enforcement representatives.

Figure ES 1: DOT Framework for FOT

Initial Assessment of Risks, Threats and Vulnerabilities to Validate Research Objectives and Calibrate Operational Scenarios to be Tested

Although DOT had provided this initial framework for the deployment testing, Battelle was asked conduct a high-level risk/threat assessment of hazmat transportation to ensure that this framework would fully satisfy the original research objectives. The assessment was to frame the safety and security risks being addressed by the operational test, calibrate the operational scenarios originally proposed, and to help prioritize technology countermeasures to be tested. A more detailed discussion of the risk and threat assessment is presented in Sections 3 and 4 of this report and a much greater level of detail can be found in the Task 1 Project Report (see references in Section 6.0).

Battelle identified terrorist tactics that could be effective during the transportation of hazardous materials. These tactics, called attack profiles, drew upon a comprehensive database of threats developed by TSSI. Three key threats were identified: theft, interception (including diversion), and legal exploitation. These attack profiles were then mapped against the four shipment scenarios developed as part of the Battelle Team's initial planning efforts to ensure that all of the attack profiles would be addressed in the proposed field test plans. Also, over 30 specific vulnerabilities were identified during the analysis and estimates were made of potential consequences of successful terrorist events. These consequence estimates were then used to rank the threat and hazmat categories of greatest concern. Finally these rankings were used in finalizing the operational scenarios and associated technology countermeasures that were selected for testing for the field operational test.

Selection of Technologies to Address Research Objectives and Perform Operational Scenarios

Battelle worked with the rest of the deployment team and the DOT to select the technologies that would address the research objectives and that could apply to the four operational scenarios selected based upon the risk/threat assessment task. In selecting the technologies to test, it was important that the technologies be as close to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) as possible. While it was not an absolute requirement that all technologies be commercially available at the time of the FOT, it was important that the technologies be more than just a concept or early beta-test candidate.

The selected technologies are reviewed briefly here and discussed in detail in the body of the final report.

• Communication System - These included satellite and terrestrial communications with global positioning system (GPS) and tracking capabilities, and digital mobile phone technologies without GPS.
• Panic Buttons - An emergency alert message was generated via the use of a panic button, which came in two configurations: 1) a panic button mounted inside the vehicle to send an emergency alert, and 2) a wireless panic button that can be carried by the driver to remotely send an emergency alert and/or use the remote panic button to disable the vehicle.
• Driver Identification and Authentication System - Two separate technologies were selected to authenticate drivers. First, Driver Authentication with Global Login, similar to a username and password on a computer system. Second, Driver Authentication with Biometric Verification was tested.
• Electronic Supply Chain Manifest (ESCM) System - Electronic manifesting was tested using biometric fingerprint readers to restrict unauthorized system access and validate driver identification.
• Remote Vehicle Disabling - An on-board computer (OBC) was used to control the disabling of the vehicle in a variety of means. These methods included blocking fuel, or sending proprietary system instructions via the wireless communications system directly to the vehicle's data bus.
• Remote Cargo Door Locks - Required the driver to request authorization from the carrier's dispatcher to lock or unlock the trailer door using over-the-air communications.
• Electronic Cargo Seals - This technology automatically generated an alert if the cargo seal was broken without proper authorization. The seal used short-range wireless communications to interface with a mobile E-Seal reader (located in the vehicle).
• Geofencing - This technology included specialized software that allowed the operator to set an "electronic fence" around any given route or point on a displayable map with automatic alert function if violated.
• Trailer Tracking - The trailer tracking subsystem provided untethered trailer position information to the dispatcher on a regular basis.
• Public Sector Reporting System (Psrc) - The Battelle Team created the PSRC in order to provide law enforcement with real-time hazmat alerts. A center was staffed live, 24/7, and was able to incorporate wireless voice/data communications, satellite-tracking technology, automatic routing of alerts to authorities, and online access to highly specialized data.

Operational Scenarios and Selected Technologies

Based upon the risk/threat assessment and the technologies selected for the test, the Battelle deployment team mapped specific technologies to the operational scenarios as shown in the table below. This became the foundation of the operational test upon which the concept of operations, requirements analysis, and system design for the FOT were based.

Planning and Conducting the Field Test

The planning process to prepare for and execute a successful field operational test is critical. Over a period of approximately six months, from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2003, the Battelle team conducted all of the planning and system engineering tasks required by DOT including the Concept of Operations, System Requirements Analysis, and System Design (see references in Section 6.0 for each task report). This was absolutely necessary for an effective test. In addition, the Battelle team conducted substantial outreach and training activities with the myriad of participants including carriers, shippers, receivers, and state enforcement staff. The training and outreach visits were conducted during summer and fall of 2003 as a prelude to the beginning of the operational test.

The Battelle Team conducted a beta test of the FOT on July 14-18, 2003 at Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego, CA. The beta test utilized the Qualcomm technology truck and included members of the Deployment Team and the Independent Evaluation Team, led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). A full description of the beta test is presented in the full report. The FOT system design documents were modified as a result of the beta test and full-scale deployment of the FOT occurred between August 2003 and May 2004. Throughout the field test, there was close integration with the independent evaluators.

During the field operational test, a variety of data was collected from the deployed technologies. Well over one million data points were collected. The type and format of data was refined several times based on initial data analysis conducted during the 2003 Beta Test. A data distribution plan forwarded all data to the Battelle research team, FMCSA, and to SAIC, the project's Independent Evaluation Team. Prior to distribution, a joint ATRI/SAIC data group continually analyzed data and questions and/or issues, and worked with the data system integrators and vendors to clarify or revise data presentations, or investigate system usage. Data was collected on a monthly basis.

Not all technologies produced "operational" data streams. Several technologies were tested both in staged testings in-person and during company visits.

Battelle, Qualcomm and the rest of the deployment team successfully conducted the field tests for all technologies identified for each of the operational scenarios. Detailed test plans were carried out to test the performance of technology applicable to each of the 25 functional requirements defined by DOT as part of the field test (see Section 4.5 of the full report for detailed descriptions.

The Battelle deployment team spent considerable time and effort to ensure that adequate data was collected and provided as requested by the independent evaluator, SAIC. This test data will form the basis of the independent assessment of the Hazmat Safety and Security Operational Test.

Development of the Technology Compendium

One major task conducted as part of this project was to develop a compendium of technology in the marketplace that could have application to hazmat transportation safety and security. Members of the Battelle Core Team (Battelle, CVSA, ATRI) recommended to the project sponsors that this would be a valuable asset to the project. The operational field testing of technology obviously requires specific technology vendors be selected as part of the test, but it was recognized that not all technology vendors and products could possibly be included in the test. Battelle selected Qualcomm, Savi, Saflink, and the Spill Center is the technology providers to serve as the platforms for this operational test. However, the real purpose of the test was to assess the potential for generic technology types to improve safety and security, not the specific products used in the test. Thus, it was considered important to identify other technologies and vendors that are available.

Outreach efforts for the Technology Compendium began with articles and news alerts directing vendors and interested parties to the safehazmat.com website. As of the writing of this report, the Technology Compendium includes contact information, product functionality and description, current market penetration, and pricing information for 88 different companies. Many of the original 200 technologies were identified as products that were not actually developed and were therefore not included. These 94 different companies represent 147 technologies.

Lessons Learned During Field Test

Throughout the course of this technically sophisticated field test, there were lessons learned that could be valuable for conducting similar technology tests in the future. The Battelle Team was able to witness and document these findings throughout the system installations, data collection and interaction with system users. If adjustments were feasible and did not compromise the research objectives, they were made with the advance notification of, and approval by, the project sponsor.

These lessons are documented in Section 4.6. Several of the key lessons are presented here:

• The Electronic Supply Chain Manifest (ESCM) issues typically focused around data transfer associated with slow dial-up connections and/or ISP issues. High-speed digital infrastructure such as T1 lines, DSL, and broadband cable generally eliminate ESCM connectivity issues.
• The Global Login was heavily used and some drivers preferred it to the biometric verification. Based on driver comments, the research team speculates that this finding results from some combination of (a) greater familiarity with the existing Global Login, (b) privacy concerns associated with biometric readers, and (c) more frequent technical problems with biometrics.
• Electronic seals were used in this FOT as a concept technology. While they have some utilization in other sectors of the freight industry, they are not currently used in the for-hire trucking industry. The project team found that 1) newer, heavy-duty trailers and trailer doors interfered with the tag's data transmission (the tag vendor indicated that newer versions of the tag would address this issue); and 2) even with e-seal training, it was apparent that the system was extremely complex, likely resulting in low driver usage.
• Geo-fencing as a concept had extremely high interest by both industry and government, however the technical design needs revisions including improved position resolution and more complex protocols (basis for exceptions, identification and interdiction). From a carrier perspective, this would provide better asset management.
• Although only tested in staged tests and interim visits, many drivers were extremely excited to have both the in-dash and key fob panic button. Panic buttons were viewed as "insurance policies"; carriers did not expect to use them, but felt their presence created peace-of-mind for drivers.
• For the untethered trailer tracking device, several electrical power issues arose and were centered on Pin 7 of the 7-way connector. Many trucks were found to have blown fuses. It was determined that some batteries were drained even when connected. Working with the carrier maintenance team, the issue was ultimately solved.
• Terrestrial communication systems are less expensive than satellite systems, possibly making them a preferred system for smaller carriers. One carrier conducted an internal operational analysis of its (terrestrial) tracking system, which indicated it provided a positive ROI based on a cost-benefit survey of facility managers and data analysis.
• For the Public Sector Reporting Center concept, the various types, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness of communications technologies as they relate to law enforcement needs to be further investigated. In addition, there is a need to investigate the issue of message priority. Battelle will conduct a Needs Assessment Task drawing on the results and findings of both the deployment team and evaluation team final reports.
• The Psrc approach, when shown to non-public sector users, was of tremendous interest to them. They saw the value to being provided with proactive messaging to enable them to enhance their safety and security programs.