SECURITY TIGHTENED ON MTMC MUNITIONS SHIPMENTS

SECURITY TIGHTENED ON MTMC MUNITIONS SHIPMENTS    The U.S. Military Traffic Management Command has tightened the security for its overland transportation of munitions shipments.
   Tom Hicks, an official with MTMC, told members of the Transportation Research Board’s Military Transportation Committee in Washington this week that revised security measures for munitions shipping were underway before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
   The biggest change is the elimination of commercial trucking terminals for scheduling and maintenance stops. There used to be 25 to 30 of these terminals around the country. Under the revised MTMC regulations, effective Jan. 1, none of these terminals met current requirements.
   Carriers now have an expanded list of Defense Department installations if they need to make maintenance or scheduling stops, Hicks said.
   Another area of heightened security involves munitions drivers.
   “We found 70 percent of the drivers had a ‘secret’ clearance,” Hicks said. “We decided to go ahead and make it a requirement.”
   The security requirements for drivers take effect in April.
   MTMC manages between 45,000 and 50,000 truck and rail shipments of arms, ammunition and explosives each year. Fifteen munitions trucking firms move most of these shipments of which five of these firms handle about 70 percent of the movements.
   Hicks said MTMC’s munitions transport program has an “extraordinary record” of safety, and he complimented the commercial sector for its cooperation with the agency.