Security & Safety Briefs - Dec. 1 - Dec. 7

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The Latest Headlines:

• ATA Offers Hazmat Reporting Service With Firm
• Congressman Wants Review of Airline Carry-on Rules
• Oregon to Heat Road to Prevent Accidents

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ATA Offers Hazmat Reporting Service With Firm

American Trucking Associations announced Tuesday it has implemented an agreement with Spill Center Inc. a hazardous materials support and environmental claims management company, to provide hazmat spill reporting and support services as an ATA member benefit.

Hazmat haulers currently may be responsible for reporting spills in thousands of jurisdictions nationwide.

Until now, it has been difficult to determine whether a particular spill required the carrier to immediately notify the authorities in the location where the spill occurred.

Working with Spill Center, ATA said its members will be able more easily to determine their spill obligations to better comply with local and national spill reporting requirements. Transport Topics

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Congressman Wants Review of Airline Carry-on Rules

A U.S. congressman called for hearings in an attempt to reverse a proposal by the Transportation Security Administration to allow passengers to carry scissors and other sharp objects on airplanes, the Associated Press reported.

Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called Friday for a hearing before the aviation subcommittee to discuss the regulations, announced by TSA on Friday, AP said.

He has also sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging a reversal of TSA's plans, AP reported.

The trade-off for allowing sharp items on airplanes will be more thorough pat-downs and other extra security checks before passengers get to the gate, officials told AP. Transport Topics

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Oregon to Heat Road to Prevent Accidents

In an effort to reduce winter traffic accidents, Oregon Department of Transportation engineers have supplied heating to a 1.2-mile section of Interstate 84 along the treacherous Ladd Canyon stretch, the Associated Press reported.

The copper heating wires were installed below the road surface on the eastbound lanes in the area between La Grande and North Powder, Ore., AP said.

etween 1998 and 2002, police responded to an average of 31 crashes per year on a short section of freeway that includes Ladd Canyon. It was four times higher than the statewide average for other rural freeways, according to ODOT statistics.

Tom Strandberg, a spokesman at ODOT’s regional office in La Grande, said ODOT officials will be able to turn the power on and off from the La Grande office, so if a storm seems imminent, they will be able preheat the pavement, AP reported. Transport Topics

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