[en] In the late 1970's, the Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a program to develop an efficient, safe, reliable and cost effective transportation system for the carriage of contact-handled transuranic waste within the DOE complex. The system developed (TRUPACT-I) consists of two major assemblies: the containment system and the outer protective structure. The containment system prevents the release of TRU nuclides in excess of regulatory limits. The outer protective structure protects against the structural and thermal loadings imposed during normal and accident conditions. A fully-loaded truck version of TRUPACT-I will weight 22.7 tonnes (50,000 lbs) and has a payload of 7.7 tonnes (17,000 lb). TRUPACT-I has been designed to accommodate a variety of material handling equipment such as lift trucks, powered roller conveyors and possibly air pallet systems. The prototype will be fabricated and tested during late FY 84. A three unit minifleet will be operated during FY 85 and FY 86 to gain operational experience. 2 references, 3 figures, 2 tables