• Securing rails: doable, if complicated, endeavor

    For a long time, the primary concern when it came to rail security was people wanting to steal a freight train’s contents, shoot the crew or rob the passengers; the U.S. post-9/11 focus on security, however, is shining a new spotlight on other hazards surrounding railroads; the desire to protect the railroads, their employees, and passengers must be balanced by what can really be done given that rail is used to move large numbers of people and large quantities of goods; railroad security — whether for passenger rails, commuter lines, or freight trains — is thus a complicated endeavor

  • Port of L.A. heist raises questions about port security

    The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex uses the latest — together with the simplest — technology in trying to prevent weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled through the port. Among these means used: a $3 million high-tech screening ship, a radiation-detecting helicopter and a badge-carrying black Labrador retriever that can sniff out chemical and biological weapons; all these security measures, and more, could not prevent an old-fashion heist of cargo containers from the port; the damage to the companies involved aside, the ease with which garden variety robbers could enter the port, over-power security guards, and leave with three large trailers raises questions about what more sophisticated terrorist might be able to do

  • UN agency wants new rules on air cargo security

    The International Civil Aviation Organization concentrate (ICAO) is pushing new guidelines for cargo security to counter al Qaeda’s new mail-bomb strategy, but is stopping short of calling for 100 percent screening of packages, as pilots and some U.S. lawmakers have urged

  • DHS tightens air cargo security measures

    In the wake of the failed air cargo plot, DHS has announced a series of measures to tighten air cargo security; among the measures: no high risk cargo will be allowed on passenger aircraft; toner and ink cartridges over sixteen ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in both carry-on bags and checked bags on domestic and international flights in-bound to the United States

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  • Germany pushes EU air cargo security plan

    Germany has demanded that the European Union draw up a blacklist of unsafe foreign freight dispatchers as part of an urgent plan to improve air cargo security on board passenger planes following bomb plots originating in Yemen and Greece

  • German air shipping industry warns against overreaction on air freight security

    German security expert says that, as with the illegal drugs trade, the only practical solution is to infiltrate the criminal organizations themselves; “If [technological solutions] worked, we would not have illegal drugs going to the U.S.—- But we have hundreds of tons being illegally imported to the U.S. every year”

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  • Closing gaping cargo security holes prohibitively expensive

    The technology exists to safeguard the world’s air-transport system against threats such as the Yemen-based mail bombs, but the cost may be too high to be practical; swabbing packages individually for explosives is considered the most effective way to scan, but this is not a practical option for the millions of packages that crisscross the globe every day; the cost of these machines would likely be in the billions of dollars, and would be economically impossible for some countries

  • Only 20 percent of U.S.-bound cargo screened for bombs

    About 20 percent of the nine billion pounds of air cargo that comes from overseas each year is physically checked for bombs; at some overseas airports, cargo is checked for bombs before being put on planes, but that screening could be below U.S. security standards, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); the TSA may start forcing airlines to inspect suspicious cargo before a plane takes off from overseas. the agency is studying whether the tracking system can target certain U.S.-bound air cargo for screening prior to departure

  • GAO: CBP's shipping security analysis should be improved

    The Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements call for collection of ten pieces of information on U.S.-bound cargo containers, including their country of origin, and two additional pieces of information on ships carrying the cargo; the GAO says that a Customs and Border Protection assessment of the requirements fails to specify why the federal office had chosen to collect the specific pieces of information over other proposals considered

  • FSU spin-off contributes to U.S. ports protection

    With 2.5 billion tons of cargo worth more than $2 trillion passing through U.S. seaports each year, the maritime transportation industry is critical to the U.S. economy, and security is a constant concern; a massive training curriculum is designed by Florida State University (FSU) researchers to promote the security of the nation’s 350 commercial ports is about to enter the marketplace.

  • New cargo security business alliance announced

    The association’s mission is to provide a platform where leaders in the intermodal shipping industry can share ideas and discover synergies to complement the rapidly expanding intelligent supply chain market

  • Securing the global supply chain is daunting task

    The global supply chain consists of 140 million shipping containers; the United States has 12,000 miles of coastline, making it hard to funnel cargo through a limited number of entrances; currently, security officials inspect only 6 percent of all cargo coming into the United States; one security experts says: “If you double that, we still have a long way to go— If you triple that, we still have a long way to go”

  • 100 percent air-cargo screening is going smoothly -- so far

    On 1 August a law mandating 100 percent screening of cargo transported on passenger aircraft took effect; the shipping industry says that, so far, are off to a good start; experts point out that August is relatively slow shipping month, and that the real test will come in mid-September, when the busy air cargo shipping season begins

  • BioStorage approved for cargo pre-screens

    Shipments of pharmaceutical and biotech materials typically include temperature- and time-sensitive materials — but under the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, which took effect 1 August, all cargo transported on passenger aircraft is required to be screened at the piece level, prior to being transported; TSA approves Indiana-based BioStorage Technologies to pre-screen its shipments to avoid airport delays

  • Airports, carriers face additional costs as a result of 100 percent cargo inspections

    On 1 August, 100 percent of air cargo carried on passenger planes in the United States must be screened for explosives and other illicit materials before the cargo is placed on the plane; this is up from the current level of 75 percent; DHS has already said it would not meet this deadline, but carriers are worried about the added cost nonetheless: electronic screening equipment is expensive, with some units costing as much as several hundred thousand dollars