SECURITY: TRANSEC REPORT\\\


Latest figures suggest that cargo crime costs the EU alone around €8.2 billion a year. (The equivalent figure for the US is $30 billion.) To put the EU number into context, it is equal to a whole tranche of the Greek government debt that has caused politicians so much angst in the past few months. Unlike Greece,


though, the


cargo crime problem has never been particularly high on Government agendas. Unless they are truly massive, most cargo theſts and heists are not covered in the media.


Efforts to keep our skies, ports


and railways safe from terrorists likewise slip under the radar unless there is an event like the Yemen ‘printer cartridge’ bomb that came close to downing two parcels jets recently. But again this is a major cost to society that largely goes unnoticed. Also, the level of physical


attacks on drivers would have Neighbourhood Watch committees


enraged if they


happened in one of our cities. According to CargoGuard’s Jean Blaufuss, at November’s Transec conference in London,


at least 17% of freight drivers have been attacked at least once in the past five years. Not even the meanest of mean streets can match that record. But again, it’s a hidden problem that goes largely unnoticed. The authorities and


technologists are doing what they can to combat these menaces, though often it is a case of two steps forward, one step back. Keeping up with the criminals and terrorists isn’t easy, but we must keep trying for the good of our global economy.


Air cargo handlers: the weak link in the chain?


Airfreight handling is the “forgotten area” of freight security, but steps were being taken to address this through the TAPA Air Cargo Security Standards (TACSS) scheme, Paul Linders told the Transported Assets Protection Association’s conference held alongside Transec in London on 14 November. The director of security at Ceva


Logistics’ Europe, Middle East and Africa region and TAPA director said that what happened “behind the walls” at handling companies


is a closed book to most other players in the supply chain and there is no dedicated security programme to fight freight theſt, as opposed to preventing terrorism. Air cargo was also covered by


numerous other standards such as AEO, C-TPAT and others from the World Customs Organisation, TSA or BASC, but again most of these efforts were designed to fight terrorism, not freight theſt. TACSS had, since 2008, sought these deficiencies


to address and the programme was first


rolled out in 2011. It was a certifiable programme – meaning that


companies could get


documentation to show that they had been independently audited as reaching certain


standards


– and it was specifically for air cargo, said Linders. There was no attempt to


reinvent the wheel as TACSS would, where appropriate, build on other TAPA standards such as FSR, and it was also aligned with other certifications like AEO and C-TPAT.


Is red tape strangling innovation?


KLM’s Kester Meijer says that trace detection technology is improving and can be used at distance from the cargo and through containers. The problem, though is convincing the risk- averse European Commission that it is a viable technology and persuading them to certify it. He adds that he personally doesn’t like X-raying because it is expensive, not so much in terms of the equipment but the ongoing training for staff. There is also a limit to the size of cargo most X-ray scanners can handle. UPS’s Howard Stone – who is


also chairman of the European Express Association - describes trace detection as “a great solution, but it’s invasive – you have to open the individual package, which is something we’d always want to avoid, and you have to swab the inside, which takes a long time.” Vapour sampling might offer better possibilities in the long term and he is piloting a scheme with the European Commission. It could also be that vapour detection and trace detection might be used in conjunction with each other, he adds: “The more processes I have,


the more effective I can be.” KLM’s Kester Meijer points


out, moreover, that for some types of cargo the airline is not allowed to open packages or probe into cargo – aero engines or pharmaceuticals, for example, so vapour sampling is definitely the way forward. One issue that could potentially


affect all security technology are changing regulations. There is at least one instance of an airline being wrong-footed by changes to the US TSA rules which rendered X-ray machines - bought only a year ago - obsolete overnight.


Safer and better parking needed


Over three-quarters of attacks on cargo and drivers took place in parking areas, lay-bys or service areas, the International Road


Transport Union (IRU)


general delegate to the EU, Michael Nielsen, told a European


Commission meeting on fighting organised crime on 21 November. He underscored the need for


member states to offer more and better secure truck parking areas and make their location and features available to operators


and drivers. He pointed out, also, that IRU’s TRANSPark offers a free online service, which also allows users and parking operators to rate parking areas according to the levels of security and comfort they provide.


TAPA’s new TSR standards for truck security will help address what has become a global problem, TAPA director Luc van Herck


told the organisation’s


conference in London on 14 November. “It’s a global standard,” he said. “It’s the same in Arizona as in the UK and it makes global control a little bit easier.” So far, 35 companies have


achieved TSR certification, which is fair progress considering the standard has only been in existence for a year, he argues. It is a rigorous standard, says


Herck, and companies must fulfil all the requirements to achieve certification unless


however been


Issue 1 2013


Freight crime: Europe’s hidden problem Truck standard gains momentum


they obtain a waiver, which is not usually granted unless there is a good reason to do so. The 2012 version of TSR has


tweaked


to make it more practical. TSR requirements include having a designated security manager, carrying out risk analyses of routes and assessing the security of any parking areas used. In the real world, it is impossible to avoid all risk, and the TSR standard recognises


that. “It’s


about risk management, not risk avoidance,” Herck says. It also covers driver training,


including what to do - or not to do - if attacked. “There was one


21


case where the driver fought the thieves off with a baseball bat, but that isn’t the right thing to do,” recalls Herck. There are also en route protocols – no family members in the cab, for example – and delivery protocols to avoid drivers falling for the ‘flooded warehouse, can you deliver it round the corner?’ gambit. He adds that where and


when you fuel your truck is also important. It’s not sensible to emerge from a DC known to contain high value goods and then stop 50 metres down the road for diesel. “The criminals will know exactly what’s in your truck and you’ll be a target.”


Why airfreight firms are getting double vision


The biggest development in X-ray scanning technology has been the move from single- view to dual-view scanning, says David Kent, vice president of sales for the EMEA region at leading manufacturer Rapiscan. The Yemen cartridge bomb incident has prompted a rethink by the authorities, who now insist of cargo being screened in two dimensions, not one, before it can be cleared for transport by air.


That doesn’t necessarily make


all of the old single-view scanners obsolete overnight – it is possible to pass the cargo through twice at different orientations, but it slows the screening process down and modern scanners have


dual X-ray generators to allow cargo be be scanned on a single pass. Companies like DHL – for whom Rapiscan is the preferred supplier – have largely replaced their old scanners with the new kit. Some firms have redeployed their old single-view scanners to less busy locations where the time factor isn’t so critical. Far more freight companies,


including many smaller ones, are considering their own in- house scanning, says Kent. “We’ve worked with over half of UK international airfreight forwarders in the past 12 months. Where cost is an issue and volumes not too high, some forwarders have clubbed together to buy machines, prices of which


typically start at around £100,000 or so, installed. There are ongoing costs in terms of staff training, DfT inspections and maintenance, though these should be less than £10,000 per machine. The larger, higher-spec machines could cost up to £400,000, though. Nowadays, scanners use standard 240V power, so installation costs are not the issue they were when three-phase power supplies were needed.” With the Olympic games over,


there are also some nearly new machines on the secondhand market at even more attractive prices, some of which are suitable for air cargo, Kent points out. “I would certainly encourage people to talk to us,” he told FBJ.


The possibilities are endless – but keep watching those screens


Today’s technology is impressive, but it doesn’t remove the need for human beings, says Alastair Fergus, UK sales director of FreightWatch International. The kinds of tracking devices that he markets have batteries that can last months in some cases and are accessible from the full panoply of modern mobile devices including iPads and Smartphones. “But the key to cargo monitoring is still having people looking, 24/7. Most theſts happen at the weekend,” he told the Transport Security Conference. For the future, he sees the


development of the truly disposable tracking device,


costing £33 or less, anti-jamming devices and integration of tracking devices


with other


technology like RFID (radio frequency identification). It will also be able to monitor temperature, humidity and other factors in real time. He also held out the


possibility of tracking devices that could switch themselves off when the plane became airborne and on again when it it lands. One of the problems with current tracking devices is that they have to be manually switched off at the airfield perimeter. The technology in fact already exists – gaining


Federal Aviation Authority compliance, and getting individual airlines to approve it, is the hard part


Transec 2013


Next year’s Transport Security exhibition and conference will take place at London Olympia on 13-14 November. The 2012 event attracted just over 3000 attendees over two days, with around 600 delegates attending the three focused conferences in the maritime, aviation and public transport arenas. For details see: www.transec.com or call 020 8947 9177


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