Security & Safety Briefs — April 13 - April 19
The Latest Headlines:
- Con-way Units Receive ACE Certification
- Intermodal Group Included in Port Security Exercise
- ATA Warns on Construction-Zone Safety
- Kentucky Gov. to Sign Seat-Belt Law
- Intermodal Group Included in Port Security Exercise
Con-way Units Receive ACE Certification
Con-Way Transportation Services, a unit of newly renamed Con-way Inc. (formerly CNF Inc.), said its four less-than-truckload freight companies have been certified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection under CPB’s Automated Commercial Environment electronic manifest program.ACE speeds the process of moving trucks and their freight from Canada into the United States by providing electronic cargo processing through a single, centralized, on-line access point that links CBP to certified shippers, carriers and federal agencies.
The four are Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Canada Express, Con-Way Southern Express and Con-Way Western Express, the company said.
Intermodal Group Included in Port Security Exercise
American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference took part in a port security exercise at the Port of New York/New Jersey earlier this month.The exercise, part of the Transportation Security Administration's Port Security Exercise Training Program, or PortSTEP, included 130 local police, emergency service, port, U.S. Coast Guard, federal, state and local government officials and IMCC representatives.
The PortSTEP program is in the midst of conducting up to 40 such training exercises between August 2005 and October 2007, ATA said.
The trainings include a mix of basic computer-based and functional exercises similar to those conducted at the April 6 New York/New Jersey event.
IMCC has been asked to provide local industry participants for other security testing events later this year and during 2007 exercises. Transport Topics
ATA Warns on Construction-Zone Safety
As construction work zones multiply in the spring, many states will make efforts to improve safety by ticketing dangerous drivers known as “zippers,” American Trucking Associations said Sunday.The maneuver is especially dangerous near 18-wheelers whose operational and braking areas are restricted by reduced space limitations, ATA said.
Such drivers are those who, where traffic is to merge into a single lane, race to get ahead of slowing vehicles, then suddenly and dangerously cut in line.
ATA said its affiliated research group, the American Transportation Research Institute, has done a study showing that many states are now considering reducing the length of lane tapers in order to increase traffic flow and lane capacity.
But according to ATRI, doing so may actually increase the number of car/truck crashes caused by vehicles cutting in front of trucks and quickly braking, ATA said. Transport Topics
Kentucky Gov. to Sign Seat-Belt Law
Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) plans to sign a new seat-belt bill passed by the General Assembly, the Associated Press reported.The law prohibits police from setting up check points for solely for seat-belt use and exempts certain farm trucks and any vehicles manufactured before 1981, AP said.
Law enforcement officials can stop drivers solely for not wearing seat belts, a change from the current law that says drivers can be cited for not wearing seat belts only after they've been stopped for another reason.
The law takes effect in July, but drivers will be given courtesy warnings and not tickets until Jan. 1, 2007. Fines are $25.
About two-thirds of Kentuckians currently wear seat belts, according to data collected by the University of Kentucky Transportation Center, but only about 54% of pickup truck drivers buckle up, AP said. Transport Topics
