Security & Safety Briefs — March 23 - March 29
The Latest Headlines:
- ATA Supports Hazmat Rule Uniformity
- Agents Smuggle ‘Dirty Bombs’ in Port Test
- Conn. Trucking Firm’s Assets Auctioned Off
- EU to Set Single License to Boost Safety, Security
- Agents Smuggle ‘Dirty Bombs’ in Port Test
ATA Supports Hazmat Rule Uniformity
American Trucking Associations has filed comments with the Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration supporting increased uniformity of national and international hazardous materials transportation regulations.ATA said uniformity is critical to enhance safety, facilitate trade and foster compliance among regulated entities.
The trucking group opposed some aspects of PHMSA’s proposed rule, including proposed requirements to modify shipping papers for imported materials, label certain limited quantities and modify the training regulations to require driver training on international hazmat regs.
Agents Smuggle ‘Dirty Bombs’ in Port Test
Government investigators smuggled in enough radioactive material to make two “dirty bombs” in a test of U.S. port security, the Government Accountability Office said in testimony before a congressional committee and in a GAO report released Tuesday.Agents were able to bring in small of Cesium-137 in the trunks of rented cars through checkpoints in Texas and Washington state, the report said.
Cesium-137 is a radioactive substance that is used for certain types of cancer treatments and in some industrial applications.
Though radiation alarms sounded, the GAO reported its agents were able to pass through the border crossings using fake documents that fooled U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, the report said. Transport Topics
Conn. Trucking Firm’s Assets Auctioned Off
The assets of a Connecticut trucking company the company whose dump truck triggered a deadly crash last summer sold Tuesday for about $1.6 million at auction, the Hartford Courant reported Wednesday.But with loans and expenses remaining, American Crushing & Recycling expects less than $300,000 will be left to compensate the victims of the 20-vehicle pileup last July, which killed four and injured 19, the paper reported.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office helped victims recover assets, said the auction proceeds are a fraction of what is needed, the Courant reported.
The most expensive items included several rock crushers, Caterpillar excavators and loaders, and nine Mack and Kenworth dump trucks, which sold for between $57,000 and $77,500, the paper said. Transport Topics
EU to Set Single License to Boost Safety, Security
The European Union will introduce a single type of driving license to reduce accidents, fight fraud and make it easier for people to move, phasing out more than 110 models now used, Bloomberg reported.Transport ministers from the 25-nation EU Monday approved the single license in a credit-card format as part of an agreement to align rules for car, truck and motorcycle drivers.
Member states will have up to 26 years to replace existing permits, Bloomberg said.
The EU wants to cut road deaths in half, to 25,000 in 2010 compared with 2001. It also wants to protect against forgeries — including by terrorists — and end differences in permitting periods, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics