The U.S. Transportation Department reports success with tests of new technology that will help secure intermodal cargo containers entering ports and border crossings throughout the United States.

The test, carried out through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems program, involved the use of electronic seals, a radio frequency device that transmits shipment information as it passes reader devices and indicates if a container has been compromised.
The E-seal project is designed to track commercial in-bound container shipments from their point of inspection at seaports, along trade corridors, to their point of clearance at U.S. land border crossings. At checkpoints and border crossings, electronic door seals enable regulatory agencies to determine whether the container has been tampered with.
In addition, the E-seal technology can facilitate border clearance activities and commercial vehicle enforcement and offer potential benefits to freight carriers that include greater accuracy in manifest information, reduced paperwork, improved port and Customs clearances, and opportunities for shipment tracking.
The E-Seals test involved cargo containers carrying in-bound shipments of auto parts destined for a Canadian assembly plant. The E-Seals were affixed by Westwood Shipping to containers in Nagano, Japan, shipped through the port of Seattle, and cleared by U.S. and Canadian Customs at the international border crossing in Blaine, Wash.
The E-Seals project is part of a 2½-year effort by the DOT to improve the security, safety and efficiency of freight movement through new intermodal freight technology. This and other ongoing ITS operational tests are the first steps in a long-term program leading to the development and installation of a nationwide container security system.