Trucking & Terrorism
Time Is Not On Our Side
Since 9-11, the security message to truckers: Be prepared, because it can happen.
Oliver B. Patton
Washington Editor
Security begins with an assessment of risks and vulnerabilities, and that assessment can be summarized in a phrase: Time is not on our side.
The enemy, whether he be a gang of cargo thieves or a cell of radicals bent on creating terror, is clever, persistent and, in the case of the terrorist, a mortal danger to our nation. Security has always been important, but since 9-11 it has become a fundamental of the business.
The attacks of 9-11 ignited a stupendous national effort to make transportation more secure. Tens of billions of dollars and untold manhours have gone into the effort to make a soft target more resistant to enemy attack. Have we made the right moves, put our resources in the right places?
With respect to terrorism, the best answer is an ambiguous one: Success is the absence of proof that you have erred. If nothing happens, you probably are doing something right, but given the nature of the enemy you never know for sure. This ambiguity compounds the difficulties faced by policy makers, and it feeds the natural tendency of people to lose interest over time - what Admiral James Loy, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, calls "the complacency gene."
But one thing is absolutely clear. In the war against terror, individual action is meaningful.
On Sept. 11, the official defense mechanisms of the country failed in practically all respects, but a handful of citizens with cell phones figured it out and did what they had to do. The passengers of United Flight 93 forced the hijackers to change their plans, probably saving either the U.S. Capitol or the White House and preventing a catastrophe of even greater proportions.
Trucks are a tool in the terrorist arsenal, which puts the industry in the front line of the defense. This doesn't necessarily require the heroic sacrifice made by the passengers of Flight 93, but it does require commitment of resources, attention to detail, training and constant renewal of effort. It requires all trucking companies to draw up a security plan, put it in place and keep it up to date. To plug into industry resources such as the Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center. To get involved in industry programs such as Highway Watch. And to keep up with what's going on, from the current threat level to new security products and systems (See accompanying stories).
Experts agree that the risk is high. The United States' military, economic and legal counterattacks have disrupted the terrorist structures that pulled off the 9-11 assault, but they still are a threat.
"Al-Qaeda is actively pooling whatever resources it has left at its disposal and, in a very centralized and methodical way, we believe that it is plotting an attack and moving an attack forward using what capabilities it has left to attack the homeland in the next few months," FBI counter-terrorism chief John Pistole told the 9-11 Commission in June.
Al-Qaeda Not The Only Threat
A Central Intelligence Agency official told the commission that al-Qaeda is just "the vanguard of global Sunni jihadist struggle against the U.S. It has by no means been defeated. And though weakened, it continues to patiently plan its next attacks. It may strike next week, next month, next year, but it will strike."
It is clear from terrorist practices that trucks are a preferred means of conveyance. Bombers in Africa, Iraq, Israel, Tunisia - and Oklahoma City - have used trucks, and the terrorists' doctrine is to repeat that which has worked in the past.
In late May the collective blood pressure of security officials rose when two propane delivery trucks were stolen from a gas company in San Antonio. They were found with their loads intact several days later in Laredo. An FBI spokesman said the thieves probably were en route to Mexico, but he could not rule out terrorism as a motive. The message: Be prepared, because it can happen.
"They are waiting for the opportunity to do something," says Tom Sheets, former director of corporate security services for CNF Inc. and now president of his own security consultancy, The Sheets Group International.
Transport Warnings
Since 9-11 there have been many warnings about the vulnerability of the intermodal transport system: Almost 25,000 cargo containers arrive at our 361 ports each day, and although new security systems and technologies are being put into place, relatively few of these containers are checked. According to Stephen Flynn, a fellow in national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, current security methods have between a 10% and 24% chance of detecting a shielded nuclear weapon hidden in a container.
On a less theoretical level, a Palestinian terrorist already has demonstrated how containers can be used. Last March, a terrorist named Muween Atallah smuggled suicide bombers into the Israeli Port of Ashdod by hiding them behind a fake double wall in a container, security officials told the Jerusalem Post. The bombers blew themselves up at a gate near some bromide tanks. Had they been close enough, they would have released a lethal poison that could have killed thousands, the Post reported. As it happened, they killed 10 and wounded 12. Atallah has since been apprehended.
Flynn, in testimony before a panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the real danger of a container attack is that it will force an extended shut-down of the nation's ports.
"Should the U.S. ports be locked down for a period of three weeks - which is not inconceivable should a terrorist group like al Qaeda carry out a simultaneous attack using containers in different ports - the entire global trade system would go into gridlock." Store shelves would quickly be emptied and factories would be idled.
Mammoth Bureaucracy
In response to these vulnerabilities, the Bush administration and Congress created a mammoth new federal bureaucracy, which in turn is churning out new rules. Industry has stepped up with cooperative information-sharing programs, training, new security technology and systems. There is no question that transportation is a "harder" target than it was on Sept. 10, 2001.
Much of the regulatory effort has gone toward taking hay off the stack to make it easier to find the terrorist needle, as Loy of DHS explains it. An example is the Transportation Security Administration rule requiring background checks and fingerprints for hazardous materials drivers.
Under the rule, any driver who has a hazmat endorsement on his/her Commercial Driver's License will have to clear a background check by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, as well as the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Between now and the end of the year, the Transportation Security Administration is supposed to finish checking the names of some 3.5 million hazmat drivers against the FBI and INS data bases. Starting Jan. 31, 2005, states must begin fingerprinting hazmat drivers.
This will increase security for hazmat haulers, where the risk is greatest, but it leaves the other two-thirds of the industry to its own devices. It is a shortcoming that has been recognized by the Department of Transportation's Inspector General, who has called on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to require stronger proof of citizenship for all drivers (See accompanying story). A more complete remedy might be the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) that TSA is now developing.
The TWIC is conceived as a credential that would give all workers unescorted access to secure areas at transportation facilities. Besides tightening security, it is supposed to make worker identification more efficient by reducing the number of credentials a worker needs and speeding up the ID process. TSA is now in the third phase of the design process, testing administrative processes using an integrated chip circuit card with a biometric identifier such as a fingerprint.
The credential will not be put into use any time soon. The current test will last the rest of this year, and review and rulemaking must follow before the rollout.
Other security initiatives have targeted cross-border freight: more inspectors and better tools, such as gamma ray inspection machines that can scan a container in three minutes, hand-held radiation detectors and a network of data bases to track visitors to the United States.
Trucking companies are participating in programs designed to keep the freight moving by pre-clearing shipments that meet certain standards. The Free And Secure Trade program (FAST), shunts credentialed cargo into green lanes, allowing inspectors to focus on cargo that is harder to clear. In the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), more than 6,000 importers, carriers and brokers collaborate with security officials to promote best practices and ensure security while keeping the freight moving.
Sense Of Urgency
Since most of the transportation infrastructure is privately owned, the government has been stressing federal-private cooperation to raise awareness and sharpen the sense of urgency about security. In response to a presidential directive, most sectors of the transportation industry have formed Information Sharing and Analysis Centers to leverage resources to guard against terror attacks. The Highway ISAC (see sidebar) is a kind of industry bulletin board where news and alerts concerning terrorism and other security issues are posted.
TSA has stepped up with $19.3 million in federal funds to support the Highway Watch program run by American Trucking Assns. The money will be used to teach highway professionals - truck and bus drivers, as well as highway maintenance crews and toll collectors - how to avoid becoming targets for terrorists intending to turn trucks into weapons of mass destruction. A secondary goal is to train drivers and others to recognize and report suspicious activity. The money also will be use to beef up the communications system now in place.
What Counts Is Action
In the end, after all the regulations, programs and technologies, what counts is the action of individuals, says Admiral Loy. Truck drivers and other transportation workers are "first responders" in the war against terrorism, he says. Homeland security is "a call to action."
It is a call that perhaps has not been heard well enough in the trucking industry, worries security expert Sheets. Before 9-11, security was seen as overhead, he says. Now, "Some have met the challenge; others are hoping that it will go away."
Reluctance to confront the issue may be fueled by concern over who's going to pay. "But as president of a public company, if you don't take every step to ensure that your products and people are protected against known threats, then the consequences are significant," he said, citing loss of customer base and company reputation as well as unexpected expenses such as liability and legal fees.
Don't wait for the government, Sheets cautioned. "It is up to (you) as a company to protect (yourself)."
As Admiral Loy put it in remarks to the National Cargo Security Council in June, "We must hold onto our sense of urgency."
Trucking & Terrorism continued...
