CALGARY, Alta. — The transportation of hazardous material is an ongoing security concern, especially in light of the ongoing war on terrorism.

To tighten vehicle security for the trucking industry, a Calgary-based company has designed a range of immobilization technology intended to avert the unauthorized seizure of a dangerous load. In that effort, MAGTEC Products (USA) Inc. has impressed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has added the “M5K” immobilization system, to its best practices report. MAGTEC is one of only two companies to meet all five functional requirements of a recent FMCSA test, an international honour that the company appreciates.

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to demonstrate how MAGTEC M5K state-of-the-art technology can play an essential role in transportation security,” said MAGTEC president and chief executive officer, Robert Morisset. “The transportation industry as a whole, but especially the HazMat industry, need to understand how important it is to have vehicle immobilization technologies as part of their security solutions.”

The M5K vehicle immobilization system has many features that contribute to increased vehicle security, including keyless driver authentication and unattended idle protection. The immobilization system can be managed from a dispatch or monitoring centre, when interfaced with a communications provider, and offers features such as remote driver code management, tamper notification to dispatch, and an acceleration control system (ACS). The ACS is unique to the market, because it enables dispatchers to remotely limit the acceleration capability of the vehicle. In other words: by reducing the vehicle’s speed in present increments, the vehicle can be brought to a safe and controlled stop, according to MAGTEC, which is considered key to any other vehicle immobilization technology.

The five functional requirements of the FMCSA best practices report on vehicle immobilization technologies, include: (1) vehicle disablement if the vehicle senses an unauthorized driver; (2) vehicle disablement/shutdown in the event of a loss of signal; (3) remote vehicle disablement/shutdown by the driver; (4) remote vehicle shutdown by the dispatcher; and (5) remote vehicle shutdown by law enforcement.

As well as the FMCSA nod, MAGTEC has been given high praise from the transportation industry; in particular, those that have started to use the immobilization system.

“We’re already heard success stories from early adopters of vehicle immobilization technologies, such as the M5K, which we believe represents industry best practices in terms of security and driver safety,” says Morisset. “We also believe that eventually, the entire transportation industry, not only commercial, but public transportation as well, will adopt these kinds of security measures.”