A logistics consultant has proposed that the nation create a ground-traffic control system to monitor the flow of hazardous materials shipments on rail and truck, but the idea might be a tough sell.

Drew Robertson, president of the consulting firm ASI-Transmatch Inc. in New York City, says he has presented his idea for a national visibility system for hazardous materials shipments to the federal Department of Transportation (DOT). Robertson claims that the government could establish a tracking system for truck and rail freight for between $5 million and $10 million by using current technology, noting that global positioning satellite (GPS) systems can identify truck locations, while the current car-location-messaging system used by the railroads could provide the basis for monitoring cars. "The railroads provide this information now to shippers," says Robertson. "Our proposal is to have a central organization so when a car goes missing, you can go find it."

A national database on hazardous materials shipments would enable law enforcement officials to find out quickly if a hazardous materials shipment is not on track to its destination. "... There's no unified system that covers hazardous materials from shipper to carrier to receiver that communicates with law enforcement in the event of a problem," Robertson argues. "You could be proactive rather than reactive."

In his initial presentation to DOT, Robertson said that a group of technology companies—ALK Associates of Princeton, N.J.; WhereNet Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif.; and Transentric of St. Louis—could develop the visibility system. ALK makes mapping and routing software, Transentric facilitates railcar tracking and message exchange between carriers and shippers, and WhereNet provides wireless location tracking technology.

Under the proposal, Transentric would collect the rail data and help build the communication network linking all carriers, producers and government agencies. ALK would collect the truck data and, along with Transentric, develop system requirements that would generate alerts for missing shipments. WhereNet would contribute its tracking technology. Since he made his initial pitch, Robertson says, he has heard from other technology vendors that are interested in getting involved with his proposed nationwide visibility system.

The creation of any such system would require authorization from Congress. At present, no legislator in either the House or the Senate is championing the proposal.