Newly completed publication of a chapter on Air Cargo Security

Rigsecure is proud to announce that it’s President Erik Hoffer has just completed publication of a chapter on Air Cargo Security for Andrew Thomas, PHD, Associate Professor, Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing, Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business, University of Akron and Editor in Chief, Journal of Transportation Security. To see all contributing authors go to: http://www.greenwood.com/psi/book_detail.aspx?sku=C34652 The book is also available at this link.

The chapter written by Mr. Hoffer, and book in general, deals with a comprehensive over view of the state of the state of air cargo issues and air cargo and general security post 911.  Mr. Hoffer details areas of concern in light of the new regulations for sealing cargo to be shipped on passenger aircraft.  This new law, passed by congress, requires compliance by the beginning of 2009, just months away!  Industry has been reluctant to actually take comprehensive steps to implement the requirements of this legislation and must do so immediately to avoid fines and the possible disruption of their air supply chain.

For more information on remedy, suitable technology or consultation on security compliance, call CGM at 941 575 0243.

The article below (previously published) explores these issues.

A HARDER LOOK IS NEEDED INTO AIR CARGO SECURITY

Commentary by Erik Hoffer, President Rigsecure. 2006

 

During each day over 38 million major cargo shipments and 75 million courier shipments begin and end at our door steps.  We take in cargo as a matter of course and welcome the couriers and drivers as they deliver products to us.  Little consideration is given to much of this cargo as to where it has been, or who handled it, who shipped it or the fact of its relative safety or security, we just sign the form and take it in!

Cargo is neither safe nor secure in transit but rather at risk during much of the transit cycle.  Air cargo, as compared to all conventional forms of transit, gets its greatest security boost from delivery speed, anonymity and parcel size relative to other packages in the same igloo.  Air cargo rarely sits still.  Cargo at rest becomes cargo at risk.  Air cargo on the other hand gets far less scrutiny than we would like and it is therefore an area of concern for security professionals. Tendered cargo at airside merely gets a cursory x-ray screening.  Little effort is put into interrogating the shipper, as the shipper is unknown and miles away.  Air cargo is unattended unlike baggage, which tends to get matched to owners at one end of the flight or the other.  Without a pedigree nor opportunity for scrutiny we run tremendous risks in accepting general air shipments as well as courier packages.   Many parcels of a certain height and weight are opened for customs examination but then most are not properly reclosed or resecured before boarding the aircraft.  In-bond facilities in many countries are less than secure and they are the perfect formula for disaster.

The air cargo industry is certainly in a quandary when it comes to balancing the cost effective nature of moving cargo Vs the cost of an appropriate level of security needed in our post 911 times.

It is incumbent upon the airlines as well as air cargo shippers to seek to embrace some basic threshold of scrutiny and security for unaccompanied shipment.  Whether it is better security protocols or better screening, better and more qualified personnel or better containers, air cargo still poises a credible threat.

In the United States the FAA has attempted to institute the preferred shipper concept which seems to begin the process.  When you consider the US as being one of one thousand shippers, you can better understand the scope and magnitude of the problem globally.  Do we curtail shipments from non-participating countries?  Do we stop importing? Clearly the threat of terrorism via air cargo must become part of any shippers receiving policy and we must all be just a bit more careful in randomly receiving unannounced packages.

 

REFERENCE ARTICLE:

    Source: American Shipper+ Shippers' NewsWire     Date Posted: 7/16/2008 10:14:06 AM

 

 

    Forwarders note concerns with 100% air cargo scanning

    

    Representatives from two of the country’s largest freight forwarder associations told lawmakers Tuesday that their members support the Transportation Security Administration’s efforts to meet a mandate for 100 percent inspection of cargo placed in the bellies of passenger planes, but warned many small forwarders may be forced to leave the market.

 

   To participate directly in the TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program, forwarders -- legally referred to by federal aviation security regulators as Indirect Air Carriers (IACs) -- must invest in scanning equipment that’s substantially more robust than that used to scan passenger baggage.

   “Forwarders participating in CCSP must purchase technology for which the cost may range from $150,000 to $500,000 per facility -- a price tag that cannot be met by most small and medium-size forwarders,” said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, in testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on transportation security and infrastructure protection.

 

   “As a result, they will face delays at the airport for cargo screening, causing them to miss flights and lose revenues,” he added. “This lost revenue, in the current economic environment with high fuel surcharges and razor-thin profit margins, could force forwarders out of business.”

 

   There are more than 4,000 registered IACs involved in the air cargo industry, most considered small to medium-size enterprises.

   TSA had invited a number of large forwarders to participate in a pilot program that’s expected to significantly help the government meet its mandate of 50 percent scanning of all cargo loaded on passenger planes by February 2009, with the remainder to be met by August 2010.

 

   The forwarder representatives noted to the House subcommittee that the TSA has underwritten the pilot, including the scanning equipment.

   “Small companies, all of whom have been excluded from the pilot, will receive no such benefit,” said Cindy Allen of Argents Air Express in Romulus, Mich., and chairman of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America’s Security Task Force. “Their sole option is to join the queue at the airport and await their turn for examination.

   “This not only reduces their ability to put cargo on aircraft expeditiously but adds one more cost to each shipment for both the IAC and their customers -- the small and medium-sized exporters who are at the heart of our economy,” she said. “This creates a huge competitive disadvantage in an industry where two of the key differentiators of service between companies are time-in-transit and cost.”

   Both the Airforwarders Association and NCBFAA called on Congress to authorize and appropriate funding in fiscal 2010 to help offset the cost for small to mid-sized firms to self-examine cargo within the TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program.

   The forwarder groups eagerly await the TSA’s demonstration of the newly proposed independent screening facility pilot program or “carwash,” where third parties will have an off-site, standalone facility dedicated to screening cargo for a fee. “We believe this is another tool that will alleviate bottlenecks at the airport,” Fried said.

   For more information about the regulation and impact of air freight forwarders, read the June American Shipper, pages 64-72. — Chris Gillis