Truckers Caught in Transponder Dispute

A dispute between two transponder services has prevented some truckers traveling through Oregon from using the in-cab devices that help ease their trip. Though both sides have expressed a desire to reach a settlement, they have yet to meet to work out the details.

HELP Inc., a nonprofit corporation that controls a for-profit transponder program called PrePass, said that a service in Oregon has obtained its transponder codes without permission.

The Oregon Green Light Program, a state-backed transponder service administered by Science Applications International Corp., has acquired codes to allow PrePass drivers to operate within the state.

The disagreement may involve the two companies, but it’s the truckers who are feeling the brunt of the inconvenience.

John Reppeto, transportation vice president of Waremart Foods in Woodburn, Ore., wrote the California Trucking Association about the problem, noting the dispute was prohibiting his company from taking full advantage of transponder technology.

Mr. Reppeto said his company has to put two transponders — one from PrePass and another from Green Light — in the cabs of its trucks traveling from Oregon to California. He said each time a truck crosses state lines, the driver needs to stop to turn one device on and the other off.

While transponders have the technological capability of working with any system, carriers enrolled in PrePass, which operates in 14 states, including California, Nevada and Colorado, are not able to interact with the weigh station sensors in Oregon. To get around the problem, SAIC asked interested PrePass carriers to disclose their transponder codes to the state, which then allowed truckers to operate within both systems.

Transponders are small black boxes that, in participating locations, let trucks clear state ports of entry at highway speed. A signal is transmitted to a nearby weigh station. If the carrier’s credentials check out and the vehicle weight is within limits, the truck is allowed to pass without having to stop.

In response to what it saw as the unauthorized use of its transponder codes, HELP fired off a letter to Oregon transportation officials. In the letter sent in December to that state’s Department of Transportation, the company accused the state of acquiring the codes “without negotiating an interoperability agreement, and without obtaining HELP permission.”

Also, the company said that by obtaining the transponder identifiers, Oregon was in violation of the Wireless Telephone Protection Act, a federal law that prohibits the interception of “an electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or other identifier of any telecommunications service.”

The Oregon Department of Justice responded by saying the state was not violating the law by acquiring the codes. “The transponder is an electronic license plate, and its identification is as much public information as a regular license plate number,” it wrote.

Bob O’Conner, transponder administrator for Green Light, acknowledged that PrePass codes were added to the Oregon system, and said it was done on a strictly voluntary basis.

“If a motor carrier indicates, we ask if they want to volunteer their unique vehicle ID,” he said. “If the motor carrier provides the ID, we enter it into our system for Green Light.”

lthough HELP has told Oregon to immediately stop using the transponder codes, the organization said it is eager to develop a standard for truckers to use the two systems.

“Our intent in all of this is to sit down and force everyone at the table to have a discussion,” said Richard Landis, president of HELP Inc.

Green Light officials said they had been willing to negotiate a settlement for some time.

We’re pleased that they acknowledged that there is a need and willingness to sit down and negotiate in a business sense,” Mr. Landis said. “And we welcome the opportunity to do that.”

However, differences in business philosophies have prevented the two service providers from reaching an agreement over a single standard that would tie the systems together.

One area of contention is the price schemes of the two services. Green Light, operating with federal and state funds, charges carriers $45 for the transponder and allows unlimited use with no other fees. On the flip side, PrePass gives its transponders away but charges a 99-cent fee each time the device is used.

“We have a business to operate that’s invested large amounts of money in developing and satisfying a customer base,” Mr. Landis said. “It’s a business and can’t tolerate being treated as a non-business.”

Another issue looming is what the programs do with the information from the transponders.

ELP alleges that the Green Light program uses its information to aggressively enforce Oregon’s trucking and tax laws. The company wants assurances that Oregon will not use the electronically collected information to bring down the heavy hand of the law against its customers.

“The Oregon Green Light program has made it clear that they intend to collect and use the data” for enforcement purposes, Mr. Landis said.

Green Light officials have repeatedly stated that the data is not used for aggressive enforcement.

Oregon has agreed to suspend enrolling PrePass carriers in Green Light until the two parties work out a settlement. However, no talks have been scheduled.

Oregon officials said it is important for the meeting to occur before Feb. 11 because of requests from carriers wanting to enroll their HELP transponders in Green Light.

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