PierPass Makes TruckTag Mandate

An organization comprised of Southern California marine terminal operators says trucks using the ports must carry RFID tags by Dec. 1.
Published: October 2, 2007

The number of trucks entering the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach grows an average of 8 percent annually. This makes the ports’ twin goal of improving driver security checks while decreasing congestion a formidable task. In early 2005, PierPass, a nonprofit company created by the ports’ 13 marine terminal operators, turned to RFID technology to help reach that goal by launching the TruckTag Program (see So. Cal. Terminals Turn to RFID for Trucks). PierPass has now issued a Dec. 1, 2007, deadline requiring all trucks using the ports to carry 2.4 GHz active RFID tags made by RFID systems provider WhereNet.

The program has had strong adoption—more than 16,000 tags, which PierPass calls TruckTags, have been issued to date. This, says Bruce Wargo, president and CEO of PierPass, is close to the total number of trucks using the ports. To encourage adoption, PierPass is distributing the tags free of charge, though in the future, trucking companies will be required to pay a $50 fee for each new tag they receive. Since most drivers are paid for each trip they make, they benefit from expedited processing through the gate. Before the TruckTag program was implemented, each truck underwent a manual inspection, which took more time than inspections carried out in conjunction with the TruckTag.

Similar truck-inspection programs, also using WhereNet tags, have been launched at the Port of Oakland, in California, and Washington’s Port of Tacoma. These programs, combined with incentives to use the ports during off-peak hours, have been credited with reducing congestion at the ports and adjacent roads, and with improving air quality in those areas due to the trucks’ shortened idling periods.

Each truck is issued a WhereNetIII active, 2.4 GHz tag, which is compliant with the ANSI 371.1 air-interface standard. WhereNet RFID receivers mounted at security gates read the tags before trucks enter the marine terminal gates. To date, Wargo says, at least eight terminal operators have mounted RFID interrogators at the entrance lanes to their marine terminals and installed the software necessary for processing tag IDs.

In the coming months, PierPass plans to migrate to WhereNet’s latest tag, the WhereTagIV, which still operates in the 2.4 GHz range but now complies with both the ISO 24730-2 air-interface standard and the Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) protocol for tags communicating over Wi-Fi. According to the company, this will not require a new reader infrastructure be installed at the terminals.

Trucking companies must register each TruckTag with eModal, a database firm that maintains a central repository of detailed container, vessel and terminal information. When registering each tag, a trucking company provides the number encoded to the tag’s chip (also printed on the tag), as well as the truck’s license plate number and its assigned driver’s license number.
If a truck is assigned a new driver, or if other changes need to be made to the registry, the trucking company must ensure that eModal receives the updated information. In addition, if a vehicle loses its tag, the trucking company must request a new tag. It must also attach the TruckTag near the side-view mirror on the driver’s side of the vehicle , following specific mounting instructions provided by WhereNet.

When a tagged truck approaches an RFID-enabled security gate, the WhereNet reader informs the guard stationed inside the gate if the truck has a valid TruckTag. The guard then compares the number on the driver’s license—which must be handed to the guard—with data pulled from the eModal database, and also makes a visual inspection to make sure the license photo matches and driver.

At some marine terminals, Wargo notes, the driver inserts the license into a magnetic-stripe reader rather than handing it to a guard. The reader pulls the license number and photo from a database, displaying them on the guard’s screen. If the number encoded to the license’s magnetic stripe does not match that saved to the eModal database, a monitor inside the guard station displays an error alert. Any time a driver’s license information does not match the data in the eModal database, that truck is sent into a special lane for exception handling.

In the future, Wargo says, drivers will eventually carry Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) cards, which are being developed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for marine workers (any personnel who must enter secure areas at marine ports, facilities located on the outer continental shelf or vessels regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act) and merchant marines working for the U.S. Coast Guard. The TWIC card will contain an RFID inlay for remote reading, as well as biometric data and an ID number. Once this credential is distributed widely to those driving into the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, PierPass will begin using the card to authenticate drivers and perform driver-truck match-up.

“We want to mash up these two technologies [TWIC card and TruckTag],” Wargo says. The TSA says its expects to soon begin accepting applications for the credentials. An estimated 750,000 individuals will require TWICs, providing a means for identifying maritime workers.