TransCore announced it has completed a freight management system that demonstrates a secure chain of custody for containerized freight.

Shipping containers are sealed at the factory in Japan, and as containers enter a U.S. port, the system verifies the integrity of electronic seals and begins monitoring freight as it travels over U.S. highways in commercial vehicles and passes between the United States and Canada.
This intelligent transportation system program was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Transportation to support security freight management and border crossing efforts through the Washington State Department of Transportation's Northwest International Trade Corridor & Smart Border Crossing Program.
Critical logistics information is gathered and distributed to authorized users to minimize freight security risk and monitor shipments throughout the Northwest Trade Corridor. Shipping containers are affixed with electronic seals, and loaded onto trucks outfitted with wireless communication RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. Roadside readers positively identify shipments as they pass by various gateways from point of origin to their destination. The electronic container seals also provide data necessary to identify the container and associated cargo and report whether a container has been opened, whether it has been tampered with, and whether an illicit breach occurred so authorities can be notified.
Commercial vehicle and container monitoring technology is deployed at six weigh stations and processing centers spanning 300 miles of Interstate 5 from Vancouver, Wash., to the United States and Canadian border. The system relays critical event data including information on carrier, vehicle, cargo, location and time of detection, drivers, and security status to authorized public and private sector stakeholders, such as U.S. Customs Service agents and the U.S. Department of Agriculture agents and freight operators, via a secure web site.
Future plans for the Northwest Project include monitoring the movement of containerized, in-bond freight out of Canada, south through the Blaine Commercial Vehicle Processing center and into the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Wash. Also planned is the provision of logistics data to the regional Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency. Eventually the system will make use of biometrics, extending the positive identification of the trade transactions made by the driver, eliminating the risk of counterfeit credentials. This driver identification functionality will also be used for secure entry and exit of vehicles from ports and intermodal freight facilities throughout the region.