Date:  July 2, 2009

As featured in Safe & Secure TV Channel Magazine, Vol. 1, No.1

If you're in the dairy business, "moo-ving" milk from the cow to the grocery aisle can keep you up late at night. One worry: the shiny aluminum tanker trucks that carry milk between farms to processing plants.

With some 15,000 trucks connecting more than 68,000 dairy farm "dots", transporting 180 billion lbs. of "moo" juice around the contry each year, the potential for spoiled milk begins well before it arrives at your refrigerator shelf.

For the past several years researchers and engineers from three Kentucky universities have been working on a comprehensive security solution that, as a bonus, happens to improve efficiency by streamlining the way that milk is picked up and delivered.

Recently, Lexington, KY., scientists unveiled the Milk and Traceability Security System to an internation audience of more than 100 dairy and liquid food transport industry representatives. DHS Science & Technology Directorate's Infrastructure and Geophysical Division provided funds for the project through the Kentucky Critical Infrastructure Protection Program.

Following the events of September 2001, including the attack on the World Trade Center and the antrax scare, milk supply chain security was tightened to prevent chemical or biological attacks. The current security system primarily relies on a series of plastic seals to lock up tanks. Truckers may not know if a seal is broken accidentally while on a higway, or intentionally by a criminal or terrorist, until they arrive at a destination. The result is either a lost load or lost time and resources spent investigating the source of the break.

The new system works by limiting access to the milk and keeping a close eye on every move of the hauler or truck. A key component of the system is a hand-held computer, a bit bigger than a Blackberry, that haulers use to input information about milk pickups, deliveries and tanker cleanings while traveling their routes. A monitoring system mounted on the truck-comprised of a GPS unit, electronic locks and key pads, and tank temperature sensors ensures that only authroized milk personnel, like haulers and inspectors, can access the tanker.

As information is entered into manually by the hauler or sent automatically by the truck, a seperate data server allows supervisors to closely track information from an entire fleet of trucks in near real time, while cutting down dramatically on paperwork and human error, according to Chris Thompson, a  University of Kentucky (UK) Regulatory Services milk coordinator.

"This new system is a leap forward in terns of security and efficiency," says Thompson. "Once implemented, consumers should have even more confidence in the saftey of the milk and dairy products they consume every day."

The new milk security system is a collaboration of the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.

"We must encourage technology solutions that include industry stakeholders, tap into the research and development capabilities at our universities, and keep security costs low for the end user," says Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, ranking member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Homeland Security, who attended the deomonstration.

Dairy industry representatives are excited about the system's possibilities, and industry input is being considered as adjustments are currently being made. Scientists have high hopes that if adopted, the possibility of an "udder" failure in the milk supply chain can be eliminated.

 In the photo above, Brian Luck with thr University of Kentucky deomonstrating how the Milk Truck Security System works.