NIHS has executed the contract for the North American Transportation Security Center. This project will be led by Dr. Joe Crabtree with the University of Kentucky.

There are over 800,000 hazmat shipments over the nation’s roads each day. Malicious activity related to the transportation of hazardous materials represents a significant threat to public safety and the nation’s critical infrastructure. In particular, the federal government has pointed to the government’s inability to track hazmat shipments on a real-time basis as a major security vulnerability.

In 2004, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration completed a 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 malicious activity. 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 University of Kentucky, specifically the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) and its partners, will expand upon the work completed under the Hazmat Truck Security Pilot by building a functional prototype of a hazmat truck tracking center. A multi-state implementation program will support development of the hazmat truck tracking center into full operational status.

“My colleagues and I are excited about the North American Transportation Security Center project.  We feel that this project has incredible potential for improving the security of hazardous materials shipments in the United States.” 

 -Dr. Joe Crabtree, University of Kentucky