Army To Test RFID On Cargo Trucks By Mary Catherine O'Connor

March 14, 2006

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Stewart & Stevenson Services (S&S), a Houston-based firm that designs and manufactures specialty equipment for the oilfield, defense and power generation industries, is developing RFID-enabled cargo trucks for the U.S. Army called Maneuver Sustainment Vehicles (MSVs). The Army awarded the company a contract to design the nextgeneration trucks, and Stewart & Stevenson selected Identec Solutions, located in Kelowna, B.C., to provide cargo-tracking RFID software for use on the MSV prototypes. Each MSV has a 13-ton payload. If the U.S. Department of Defense approves them, the U.S. Army will use the MSVs to transport consignments in a theater of operations.

According to Barry Allen, CEO of Identec Solutions, S&S is developing two MSV prototypes and will ship them to the Army this spring. The Army will test the prototypes through Army operation simulations for at least nine months, as part of the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). A joint effort by the DOD's acquisition and operational communities, the ACTD identifies military needs and tests technologies to fulfill them. "These tests will show the truck's ability to read cargo tags attached to shipments and then automatically send information about cargo, and where it was picked up, to a back-end system," says Brock Watters, senior electrical engineer with S&S. "We're using RFID to do this because it has a better chance of working than other technologies [including bar code], and because the DOD is mandating its use."

Per its contract with Stewart & Stevenson, Identec is developing software to interface with other software deployed by defense contractor Northrop Grumman. The Identec software is part of the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) system, used by the Army to make tactical decisions in the field.

Mary Catherine O'Connor is the associate editor of RFID Journal and RFIDJournal.com. She provides a wide variety of news and feature stories for both the Web site and print magazine. Prior to joining RFID Journal in late 2004, O'Connor served as an associate editor with Modern Media Partners, the media and events firm that produces many of RFID Journal's conferences and educational seminars, including the annual RFID Journal LIVE! conference. Before working for Modern Media, she worked as an editor and writer for a range of magazines and Web sites devoted to adventure travel and outdoor recreation.

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