Highway Watch: Are You Doing Your Part?
After a modest start, trucking has on-road lookouts for terrorist activity across the land.
On Nov. 6, retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey told a worldwide counter-terrorism conference that although homeland security has improved greatly since Sept. 11, 2001, it "remains incoherent." I believe he's right about that, but with one exception: Highway Watch.
It was started in 1998 by the American Trucking Associations as a safety program. Truck drivers were trained to report potentially dangerous situations (drunk drivers, weather, disabled vehicles, accidents) from the road.
After 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and ATA formed a coalition under which Highway Watch added a security element. Truck and bus drivers, and other transportation workers, are now also trained to spot and report suspicious activity that might involve terrorism.
How's it working? Well, with Department of Homeland Security support and under ATA's supervision, the number of watchdogs trained has topped a half-million
That's more than four times the number of just a year ago, and it says something about the integrity, dedication and patriotism of the people in highway transportation.
This all took awhile. At first, the Highway Watch ranks consisted mostly of individual drivers who volunteered for the training themselves. A year ago, the only major fleet aggressively providing the training to all its drivers was Overnite Transportation Co.
Since then the big names – and lots of smaller ones – have stepped up to the plate; there are now more than 32,000 unique company names in the Highway Watch system.
Virtually every major motor carrier has joined the coalition: AAA Cooper; Celadon; Con-Way; Covenant; Crete; Dart; FedEx; Frozen Food Express; Jevic; LandStar; Maverick; Old Dominion; Prime; Schneider National; Swift; UPS; U.S. Xpress; Wal-Mart; Werner – just to name a few.
While the course is free (funded by the Department of Homeland Security) some fleets have invested their own operational money to train their people.
The training is conducted by security professionals, law enforcement and other expert personnel. It takes about an hour, and is done in classrooms or through self study with VHS, DVD, CD or audio cassette.
Its ultimate goal: Prevent terrorists from using large vehicles or hazmat loads as weapons. Volunteers look for suspicious acts, like someone showing unusual interest in a truck, or taking pictures of bridges. Situations are called in to a Highway Watch hotline, which notifies local law enforcement. Follow-up reports of incidents are shared with government intelligence officials and other law enforcement.
Any doubters of the program should heed these further words from Gen. McCaffrey: "Global animosity toward U.S. foreign policy…is universal, intense and growing. The threat [of terrorist attack] has morphed, and remains a huge danger."
If you haven't joined Highway Watch, it's easy. Call toll-free (866) 821-3444, or go to the web site www.highwaywatch.com.
DOUG CONDRA
PRESIDENT
E-mail Doug Condra at dcondra@truckinginfo.com, or write PO Box W, Newport Beach, Calif. 92658.
