Security Briefing - Jan. 2. - Jan. 4
- FMCSA to Enforce Placard Restrictions
- Acid Truck Stolen in Los Angeles
- Fuel Haulers Prepare for New DOT Regulations
- Coast Guard Getting a Face Lift
- DOT Scrambling for Airport Screeners
- Companies Trying to Cash In on Air Marshal Programs
- Acid Truck Stolen in Los Angeles
FMCSA to Enforce Placard Restrictions
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said on Wednesday, that it is enforcing a requirement prohibiting motor carriers from placing extraneous information on placards.Violators are subject to a penalty of at least $250, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement. These placards are reserved for hazardous materials information.
FMCSA said that extra information detracts from the basic function of placards and reduces the ability of emergency responders to recognize the most important signs on a truck. Transport Topics
( for the full press release.)
Acid Truck Stolen in Los Angeles
Police in the Los Angeles area are searching for a truckload of acid stolen from a chemical distribution company on New Year's Eve, the Associated Press reported.A police spokesman told AP that this appears to be a burglary rather than a terrorist act. The acid was in five 100-pound metal canisters that had been loaded onto a truck in preparation for shipment.
The white Chevrolet truck has a California license plate 5T68532 and the company name "Dacco" painted on one of the doors.
Nitric acid is a highly corrosive liquid that can be mixed with other agents to make fertilizers and explosives, AP said. Transport Topics
Fuel Haulers Prepare for New DOT Regulations
The Department of Transportation has begun discussions about new cargo tank regulations, the Oil Price Information Service reported Dec.31.The new rules would place an increased burden on haulers of fuel oils. They would include an expansion of hazardous material driver training to haulers of combustible materials, as well as new inspection and testing requirements for tanks and various marking requirements for remote shutoff devices for tanks, OPIS reported.
Industry groups say that normally such rules take six months to a year to become law, but with a renewed interest in security issues, action could come much quicker. Transport Topics
Coast Guard Getting a Face Lift
With the United States tightening security at all major ports of entry in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Coast Guard is getting a face lift.The agency, which for many years had been low on the budget priority list at the Department of Transportation, has seen funding increase greatly since September, USA Today reported.
With the shift in attention, the Coast Guard’s mission has shifted too. Cutters and aircraft once used in rescue missions and the war on drugs are now being used in the war on terrorism, the paper reported.
About 75% of what the Coast Guard used to spend on drug enforcement has been directed to homeland security, the paper said.
Increased layers of security at ports could delay truck shipments and disrupt ground transportation networks. Transport Topics
DOT Scrambling for Airport Screeners
With a congressional deadline looming, the Department of Transportation is rushing to hire screeners as part of a new airline security force, the Associated Press reported.Under new federal guidelines, passed Nov. 19, all 28,000 airport screeners are to become government employees in one year. The airport security law also created a security administration within the DOT to handle aviation safety issues and hire new screeners.
The New York Times reported Dec. 30 that the new administration announced it would allow one year of work experience to substitute for the requirement that screeners have a high school diploma or a general equivalency degree.
A spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration denied such an announcement, saying that the work experience exception was only meant to take advantage of current, available resources.
Without the exception, 7,000 of the nation’s current security screeners would be barred from federal service. Transport Topics
Companies Trying to Cash In on Air Marshal Programs
Several companies have begun producing or modifying programs to assist transpiration officials in training air marshals.A Dec. 30 New York Times article detailed how companies like Advanced Interactive Systems are using technologies like virtual reality to develop training regimens for air marshals. The highly secretive law enforcement agency has been in the limelight since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
AIS has already developed video-training programs for the U.S. Border Patrol, Federal Reserve bank security and many other law enforcement groups. The videos provide situations a marshal may confront. Make the right choice and the situation is resolved, make the incorrect move and the situation quickly gets out of hand.
Some of the situations include a passenger with a bomb and one where a flight attendant is taken hostage.
AIS hopes that the video training program will be adopted by the newly formed aviation security administration of the Department of Transportation, the Times said. Transport Topics
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