The Transportation Security Administration has awarded a contract of almost $3.2 million to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Buffalo, N.Y., to conduct a pilot project related to the security of transportation of hazardous materials by truck.
In July, TSA awarded a contract to SAIC, McLean, Va., for $1.4 million to evaluation truck tracking solutions and to monitor the development of a prototype truck tracking center designed to enhance hazmat security.
Under the latest contract, General Dynamics will develop and demonstrate the prototype truck tracking center and the associated non-proprietary universal interface that will allow the collection of alert and tracking information from commercially available tracking systems.
In the first phase, TSA will evaluate at least three commercially available solutions against criteria related to tracking capability throughout the United States. Later phases of the pilot program will involve a prototype centralized truck tracking center to provide a single point of contact for analyzing alerts or incidents and coordinating responses to potential threats.
“Evaluating available technologies will help us determine the best way to mitigate the threat of terrorists using hazmat-carrying trucks, and then develop the capability to quickly coordinate the response to an incident or threat,” said Jim Blair, TSA’s acting chief operating officer.
