Fedtrak™
TSA Tier 1 Highway Security Sensitive
Material Shipments
What is the programmatic
and legislative basis for TSA’s highway security program?
In 2004, the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) completed its Hazmat Field Operations Test (FOT)
study to determine if “smart truck” technology such as GPS tracking, wireless
modems, panic buttons, and on-board computers could be used to enhance hazmat
shipment security. The FMCSA study concluded that “smart truck” technology will
be highly effective in protecting hazmat shipments from terrorists. The FMCSA
study also concluded that “smart truck” technology deployment will produce a
huge security benefit and an overwhelmingly positive return on investment for
hazmat carriers.
The FMCSA study
led to the U.S. Transportation Security
Administration’s (TSA) Hazmat Truck Security Pilot (HTSP). This
congressionally mandated pilot program was undertaken to demonstrate if a
hazmat truck tracking center was feasible from a technology and systems
perspective. The HTSP project team built a technology prototype of a hazmat
truck tracking system to show that “smart truck” technology could be crafted
into an effective and efficient system for tracking hazmat shipments. The HTSP project team also built the
Universal Communications Interface – the XML gateway for hazmat carriers to use
to provide data to a centralized truck tracking center.
In August 2007,
Congress enacted the 9/11 Act (PL110-53) which directs TSA to develop a
program, consistent with the Hazmat Truck Security Pilot and the Hazmat Field
Operations Test, to facilitate the tracking of motor carrier shipments of
security-sensitive materials.
What
are TSA’s Security Action Items?
In June 2008, TSA
took a major step forward in establishing a national hazmat security program by
issuing Security Action Items for shipments of Tier 1 Highway Security
Sensitive Materials (HSSMs), the riskiest shipments from a security
perspective. Tier 1 HSSMs include
explosives, radioactive materials, and toxic inhalation materials. There are
about 2 million Tier 1 HSSM shipments per year in the United States.
TSA’s Tier 1 HSSM
Security Action Items specify security measures – including vehicle tracking –
that TSA believes are prudent security measures for shippers and carriers to
follow. Compliance with TSA’s Tier 1
HSSM guidance is voluntary but TSA is expected to issue regulations based on
the Tier 1 HSSM Security Action Items that will make compliance mandatory.
FMCSA’s Field
Operations Test and TSA’s Hazmat Truck Security Pilot both support the need for
establishment of a Tier 1 HSSM truck tracking center will support the
implementation of a Tier 1 HSSM regulatory program based on the Security Action
items by TSA.
How
do shipment tracking systems work?
A fundamental requisite for an SAI-compliant
program is shipment tracking. Both the
Field Operations Test and the Hazmat Truck Security Pilot incorporated shipment
tracking into their test programs, and numerous vendors offer commercial shipment
tracking systems and services.
Qualcomm and Safefreightare two companies that sell “smart truck” security systems for hazmat carriers. Both also offer basic fleet tracking data services. Others such as Savi Lockheed offer chain of
custody/tracking solutions for industry verticals (Savi Chemical Chain of
Custody System) that incorporate “smart truck” devices/services sold by
companies such as Qualcomm and Safefreight.
A centralized truck tracking system – like
that envisioned in the Field Operations Test and the Hazmat Truck Security
Pilot - will draw in messaging data from carriers (via carrier Fleet Tracking
Vendors). Messaging streams include
location, alerts, gate out/in, etc. The
TSA Universal Communications Interface (UCI) was developed during the Hazmat
Truck Security Pilot to serve as an XML link between fleet tracking systems and
a centralized truck tracking system. The
UCI will also serve as the gateway for messages from a centralized truck
tracking system to fleet tracking vendor systems.
A key function of a centralized truck tracking
system is to convert massive amount of fleet messaging data streams into
actionable intelligence to serve TSA’s risk-based programmatic needs.
What is Fedtrak™? How does it relate to the needs of the TSA’s
highway security program?
Fedtrak is an
R&D initiative funded by the National
Institute for Hometown Security in Somerset, KY, DHS’s Science & Technology Directorate, and TSA’s highway security
program.
The Kentucky
Transportation Center (KTC) at the University of Kentucky and its project
partners are building Fedtrak™ as an implementing tool for TSA’s Tier 1 HSSM
Security Action Items and as a sophisticated risk management tool for TSA’s
highway security program.
In beginning its
work several years ago, the KTC project team completed a detailed analysis of
commercial “smart truck” products and tracking systems that work in the context
of TSA’s hazmat security program. For
example, KTC and NIHS hosted a delegation from the Singapore Civil Defense
Force (SCDF) in Lexington, KY and at TSA HQ. The SCDF, Singapore’s homeland security agency, built and operates the Singapore Hazmat Transport Vehicle Truck Security
System http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT1kMYZjWIg The project
team also investigated other tracking and security systems offered by commercial
providers. In addition, the project team
conducted extensive reviews of the results of the Field Operations Test and the
Hazmat Truck Security Pilot.
A
bottom line determination was that there are a number of excellent tracking
systems offered by commercial providers. Although shipment tracking is a functional requisite for a centralized
tracking system, TSA needs extend significantly beyond shipment tracking
functionality.
What is the truck’s location?
The KTC project team is also building
Fedtrak to serve as a sophisticated risk tool for TSA’s highway security
program. Dynamic risk profiling – based
on security algorithms
built into the Fedtrak™ Risk Engine – will allow TSA to
monitor the security status of the nation’s hazmat supply chain on a
truck-specific or a national basis.
What is the status of the Fedtrak™
initiative?
The KTC
project has built core components of the Fedtrak™ system including: a). shipper,
carrier, and consignee portals, b). the UCI interface with commercial fleet
tracking vendors; c). electronic manifest (chain of custody) module; d).
electronic route plan module; e). trip plan module; f). geofence module
(basic); g). business rules engine (basic); and h). a portion of the security
specialist desktop including shipment visualization systems. The team is just completing a short-term test
of these components with key members of the explosives industry.
The KTC
project team has begun work on enhancing the Fedtrak™ Business Rules engine to reflect the TVC
scenario analysis the team completed and is building a State Fusion Center
interface. In addition, the team will
enhance portals to reflect feedback from the pilot program, and will enhance
geo-fence and routing solutions.
The KTC
project team expects to continue to work closely with key members of the
explosives industry to match Fedtrak to TSA and industry SAI needs.
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