A Georgia professor is proposing a nationwide tracking system to monitor trucks. It’s not a black box, doesn’t record and save info. Instead, it would use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to monitor trucks, similar to the technology behind the E-ZPass type system.

Bob Cook, professor of Computer Science at Georgia Southern University, wants every truck in the nation to carry a device in the cab that is about the size of a television remote control. When trucks pass through weigh stations, an electronic reader would detect the RFID devices and send the vehicle’s location into a national truck tracking computer system.

“The federal government is investigating a national truck tracking center for the purpose of homeland security,” Cook said. “We are investigating how to implement a less expensive truck tracking system and also to design a homeland security solution that will have added value to other people.”

So far, Cook has garnered support from the Georgia Ports Authority for the devices, which would cost about $15 to add to a truck. Although RFID technology – which can send an individual identifying code across radio signals – is not new, its implementation is “catching fire” in the transportation industry, said Tom Armstrong, director of strategic development and information technology for the Authority.

“We … are looking at the day when there is a national infrastructure in place, and even further down the road, an international infrastructure that can capitalize on RFID possibilities,” Armstrong said.