Officials at the agency charged dates, such as the industrywide truck-with responsibility for airline ing assessment called for in the 9/11 rec-passenger screening are turn- ommendations act, further regulations ing an eye toward the trucking remain a concern. industry. “We don’t necessarily need the regu-As Robert B. Stephan, the lations,” Martin Rojas, a senior official Department of Homeland Security’s at the American Trucking Associations, assistant secretary for infrastructure said at DHS’ Critical Infrastructure Part-protection noted at an advisory council nership Advisory Council July 30. “We meeting last month, the transportation think we can develop the guidelines, and sector has a “massive array of potential we think we can do that within the indus-facilities [and] targets.” try itself.”
Now, spurred in part by congressional Last month, however, the TSA released mandates contained in homeland secu- a list of hazardous materials deemed rity legislation enacted last August, as “security-sensitive,” seen as a precursor well their own initiative, the Transporta- to meeting 9/11 act requirements that put tion Security Administration plans to do special conditions on such materials, such something about it. as tracking and route planning.
An arching assessment of security The TSA said the list and the correlat-within the trucking industry, examining ing requirements for such goods, such as what current practices are in place, truck background checks for drivers and other parking security, and what economic employees as well as en-route security impact security upgrades will have on the plans, are voluntary for now, but even-industry is currently under way. tually regulations will need to be put in
The industrywide assessment, due to place to comply with the law. be completed this fall, will eye different hypothetic scenarios — a terrorist hijacking a truck full of hazardous materials, for instance — and will look at what preventative measures a company could use to stop terrorist attacks.
The TSA says the assessment’s results will be combined with those from an exercise scheduled for next month to let the industry test its security plans, as well as a transportation infrastructure assessment, to determine whether a new round of homeland security rulemaking is necessary.
Some in the trucking industry are awaiting those and possibly other regulations with a wary eye, noting other regulations such as air cargo’s 100 percent scanning mandate and TSA’s much criticized Transportation Worker Identification Credential for port workers have caused strife for other modes.
“At this point we really don’t know,” said Paul Pitzer, a senior staff member of the TSA’s highway and motor carrier division. “Our requirement was to complete the assessment and submit the report to Congress and we will just kind of wait to see what happens at that point.”
“I’m not sure any of the agencies, except for the one or two that deal with the motor carriers, truly appreciate the significance of the trucking industry,” said Susan Ross, a former freight broker who is now a private transportation attorney specializing in homeland security law.
But as the trucking industry watches to see how the TSA implements the man-
“You are talking about a new agency … it now has a lot of solid experience in the airline industry, it has little if any experience in the trucking industry,” she said. “There is logically going to be a tendency to take what they learned in the airline
TSA Highway Security-
Sensitive Materials
TIER 1
Explosives (Division 1.1 – 1.3)
Toxic gas (Division 2. 3)
Anhydrous Ammonia (Division 2. 2)
Radioactive materials
Poison inhalation hazard materials (Division 6.1)
Flammable liquids (Class 3)*
Class 8 corrosive materials*
Poisonous materials (Division 6.1)*
TIER 2
Explosives (Division 1.4 –1.5)
Flammable liquids (Class 3)*
Infectious substances (Division 6. 2) Flammable gases (Division 2.1)
Non-flammable gases with oxidizers (Division 2. 2)*
Flammable solids (Divisions 4.1)
Spontaneously combustible materials (Division 4. 2)
Dangerous when wet material (Division 4. 3)
Oxidizers (Division 5.1)
Organic peroxide (Division 5. 2) Poisonous materials (Division 6.1) Class 8 corrosive materials*
*Some materials appear in both tiers depending on quantity and/or packaging Source: TSA
industry (then) somehow take the trucking industry and cram it into that model.”
Officials from the TSA say they have been diligently working with the trucking industry and point to industry workshops, teleconferences and meetings like the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council as an example.
“If there are any other regulations that come out from the assessment or directed from Congress we will continue to work with industry as closely as we have,” Pitzer said.
Still, any future regulations, regardless of industry involvement, could represent a shift in the role between the TSA and the trucking industry. So far, in the agency’s seven-year history, there have been only two regulations directly affecting the trucking industry: the commercial drivers license hazardous material endorsement and the TWIC program.
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