Ag Haulers Receive Security Grant from USDA

SAN ANTONIO – The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a $90,000 grant to the Agricultural Transporters Conference of American Trucking Associations to develop an industry guide for security practices.

Jeremy Stump, director of homeland security for the USDA in Washington, D.C., announced the grant during the ATA Management Conference & Exhibition here on Oct. 21.

ATC will survey 25,000 trucking companies that transport agricultural commodities to determine what security measures these companies have put in place since Sept. 11, 2001. The survey will be conducted by ATA’s research arm, the American Transportation Research Institute.

"We want to find out what security practices are in place. We really don’t know," said ATC Executive Director Fletcher Hall.

Development of security guidelines will help prevent terrorists from tampering with the food supply in transit, Hall said.

Hall said ATA will contribute an additional $22,000 to the project.

ATRI President Rebecca Brewster, commenting on the USDA contract during a review of research programs, described food distribution as the "weakest link" in the nation’s transportation security system.