Security & Safety Briefs - Aug. 18 - Aug. 25
The Latest Headlines:
- Officials Find $2.4 Million in Truck at Ambassador Bridge
- N.Y., Connecticut Increases Highway Security as Convention Nears
- U.S. Begins Air Surveillance at Canadian Border
- FMCSA Delays Implementation of Hazmat License Program
- NMFTA Hires Newell for Weight Program
- N.Y., Connecticut Increases Highway Security as Convention Nears
Officials Find $2.4 Million in Truck at Ambassador Bridge
Customs agents on Aug. 18 seized $2.4 million concealed in a tractor-trailer truck heading to Texas from Canada across Detroit's Ambassador Bridge, United Press International reported.The haul was the largest cash seizure ever from a truck at a border crossing, UPI said.
The driver reportedly told inspectors at the bridge he was carrying a load of aluminum blanks. Investigators were still trying to determine what he was planning to do with the money, UPI said. Transport Topics
N.Y., Connecticut Increases Highway Security as Convention Nears
New York and Connecticut were further increasing security on some of its highways in advance of next week's Republican National Convention in New York City, the Associated Press reported.Trucks and other commercial vehicles traveling Interstate 95 between Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., have been targeted at police checkpoints, AP said.
At the start of August, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered around-the-clock inspections at the weigh station on the northbound side of I-95 in Greenwich. Beginning this week, New York State Police have established a makeshift truck checkpoint on the southbound side of I-95 near Exit 16 in New Rochelle, AP said.
Security was also being increased at Metro-North Railroad stations and aboard commuter trains, AP said. Transport Topics
U.S. Begins Air Surveillance at Canadian Border
Officials in Bellingham, Wash., on Friday dedicated the first of five planned bases along the U.S.-Canada for regular flights to look for drug runners and others crossing illegally by air or land, news services reported.The bases would dot the border from Washington state to upstate New York, the Associated Press said. Similar bases have policed the Mexican border for three decades.
A second station in Plattsburgh, N.Y., is scheduled by the end of the year, followed by bases near Detroit; Grand Forks, N.D.; and Great Falls, Mont.
The Bellingham base initially would have only enough money to operate flights about eight hours a day, AP said. Transport Topics
FMCSA Delays Implementation of Hazmat License Program
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration delayed implementation of its hazard materials license program to coordinate with the Transportation Security Administration, according to an interim final rule published Aug. 20 in the Federal Register.The rule, initially published in May 2003, required applicants seeking a permit to haul hazardous waste get clearance from the Department of Transportation and TSA. Drivers are required, among other things, to submit fingerprints to get the clearance, according to the rule.
States were barred from issuing the permits or commercial driver’s license upgrades unless the applicants have been cleared, the rule said. It followed a change in U.S. code brought about by the U.S. Patriot Act.
The rule now goes into effect Sept. 20, instead of April 1, as was proposed in the earlier rule. States have until Jan. 31, 2005 to begin enforcement. Transport Topics
NMFTA Hires Newell for Weight Program
The National Motor Freight Traffic Association said it hired Don Newell, a former freight research manager for Roadway Express in Harrisburg, Pa., to run a new program to help carriers and shippers accurately weigh, measure and classify freight.NMFTA evaluates the transportation characteristics of goods moving in interstate commerce and classifies products in one of 18 classes based on density, stowability, ease of handling and liability. The National Motor Freight Classification is used by many trucking companies, mostly less-than-truckload carriers, as a basis for pricing.
Newell said as many as 25% of shipments are described, weighed or measured incorrectly.
“A weighing and research program can help shippers and motor freight carriers meet legal obligations . . . as well as more accurately reflect shipping costs,” he said. Transport Topics
