Following a year-long technology demonstration that examined the use of container security devices on truck and rail-borne cargo entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico for expedited processing at the border, the Department of Homeland Security is exploring adjacent uses for the technology in the near-term while forging the long-term foundation for fast lane processing at ports of entry, according to a department official.
The Secure Transit Corridors (STC) project, which was established as an Apex agreement between Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) branch in May 2011, included the installation of Reusable Electronic Conveyance Security Devices (RECONS) on containers after the doors were closed. The RECONS were armed with a fixed reader that links the device to the S&T data server.
The devices include GPS to allow for geo-location tracking, and they can also be used to determine if the ISO bolt was removed and the container door has been locked or unlocked, opened or closed. The devices can also be outfitted with other sensors such as a thermometer.
The RECONS devices were supplied by iControl, Inc., which has been working with S&T since 2005 under various contracts to develop and test a container tracking and tagging system (HSR, June 1, 2005, March 21, 2007, Feb. 18, 2009, and May 9, 2012).
In the Apex demonstration, data was collected from over 1,800 supply chain runs that were made by certain Tier III members in CBP’s voluntary Customs-Trade Partner Against Terrorism program. The intent was to expedite the movement of the member’s intermodal truck and rail cargo shipments at the border crossings and to ensure such cargo shipments aren’t used to smuggle illicit goods and people, according to an STC fact sheet.
The data from the demonstration is still be assessed for a final report but in the meantime CBP wants to examine the RECONS in other applications, Jonathan McEntee, a subject matter expert on STC within S&T’s Border and Maritime Security Division, tells HSR.
During the STC project, CBP also used the RECONS to track select shipments that were singled out for more extensive inspection at a Central Examination Station (CES) in Detroit, where a container is unloaded and its contents such as boxes and parcels are scanned individually by X-Ray systems. The stations are often located several or more miles outside of a port, and CBP wants to make sure that the containers get to the CES securely and in a timely manner and that they are secure when they depart the station, McEntee says.
Going forward, CBP wants to expand the use of RECONS to a CES station in Port Huron, Mich., and to three in-bond shipment routes, McEntee says. In-bond refers to shipments that enter the U.S. and then travel to another country. In-bond shipments must typically remain within pre-determined routes, particularly agricultural shipments, he says.
With the current ISO 17712 high security bolt seals that contain a serial number and locking mechanism, there is no way to electronically track or verify the security of the conveyance. With a RECONS-type device, CBP can monitor a shipment to make sure it stays within a certain corridor while transiting the U.S., McEntee says.
McEntee says that S&T plans to issue a Request for Information later this year asking industry for conveyance security devices that can be tested in a lab and then operational environment for CES and in-bond applications. The agency has already done market research on the potential commercial availability of these devices and has found about 20 vendors so “we feel pretty confident that we’ll have some good products to use,” he says.
The goal is to begin the new operational evaluations next April, McEntee says.
While the near-term focus is on testing conveyance security devices for the CES and in-bond applications, McEntee says CBP remains interested in eventually using the devices for expedited processing at ports of entry. The device is just one layer of security here, he says, noting that risks with the truck itself and the driver have to be mitigated.
Moreover, getting international acceptance of the devices isn’t an easy task and will involve working with international standards communities, McEntee says. S&T is internally funding a standards effort that will take at least two years to provide something to the international standards community, he says. Once that occurs and standards are agreed to, then vendors can begin to build to the standards, he adds.
McEntee says that whatever the devices look like doesn’t really matter. It comes down to meeting performance requirements, he says.
During the STC evaluations, use of the RECONS devices enabled CBP Officers to automatically gather data, such as the status of the lock throughout its trip, about an approaching container before it reached the inspection booth. They also allowed CBP to know the queue times.
The current ISO bolts cost about one dollar apiece. One of the goals of the S&T in its container security device programs over the years is to find the acceptable price points for shippers, but “our estimates are in the $200 to $300 range and that they would pay for themselves over a number of years and provide them the benefit they are looking for” such as an expedited trade lane, McEntee says.
Another benefit, which turned up during the STC pilot, is the security of the container, McEntee says. Ford Motor Company [F] used the devices on rail shipments from Mexico and found a “significant” reduction in illegal activity, he says. “Security was the biggest key in the rail environment.”
General Motors [GM] and Honda [HMC] enjoyed the in-transit visibility benefits in the trucking environment, McEntee says. That improved logistical knowledge helps these companies better adjust their manufacturing resources as needed, he says.