The Geiger counter doesn't have to be in the truck. It can even be integrated with the equipment being carried, so it can raise the alarm no matter where it is, as long as it has battery.
It could even use a low power solid state sensor since the radioactivity is so strong, and when it detects radiation, start dead reckoning until it gets a GPS lock, so you could potentially still get good info with a coin cell level device, although you'd want more, because ideally you'd have a satellite signal.
I wonder if there's any way to use the EPIRB satellites for that, or if the data is too limited to add a "Watch out, there's nuclear stuff here, this isn't a stranded hiker" flag?
Do we have a Gieger Counter Sensor for when the Gieger Counter falls of the truck as well and does that need a Gieger Counter Sensor Sensor? (tongue in cheek).
Seems like a simpler solution would be to prioritise checking some shipments over others at departure and arrival.
My partner works in shipping/logistics and hazardous chemicals/products are treat completely differently to regular bulk cargo.
It actually could work pretty well. A Geiger counter is essentially a current gain device. Ionizing radiation passes through the chamber and excites free electrons which travel towards high voltage plates. The gain comes when the drifting positive ions collide with other gas particles and knock additional electrons free, starting the process again.
Rad source goes missing? Current stops flowing in the GC. HV power failure? Current stops flowing. GC falls out of the vehicle? Current stops flowing.
In any of these cases, you make the system shout an annoying beep that everyone within 250m of the vehicle can hear and somebody checks on it.
Having active monitoring with fail-safes seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to me. A short range battery powered system that continuously reports the presence of the source would seem like a good start.
It could even use a low power solid state sensor since the radioactivity is so strong, and when it detects radiation, start dead reckoning until it gets a GPS lock, so you could potentially still get good info with a coin cell level device, although you'd want more, because ideally you'd have a satellite signal.
I wonder if there's any way to use the EPIRB satellites for that, or if the data is too limited to add a "Watch out, there's nuclear stuff here, this isn't a stranded hiker" flag?