TSA air cargo screening program lifts off
The Transportation Security Administration on Monday finalized the last administrative steps necessary to implement its security program for non-airline business entities to help inspect airfreight carried on passenger aircraft.
Shippers and freight forwarders certified by the agency can now officially begin checking cargo by physical or automated means to meet the Feb. 1 government mandate to screen 50 percent of all shipments aboard passenger planes.
Agency lawyers completed a contractual vehicle governing voluntary participation of shippers to screen and seal their own freight prior to airport delivery and amended an existing air carrier security program to include new procedures for how to accept and secure shipments from certified shipping facilities, Marc Rossi, branch chief for the public-private screening program told American Shipper. Policy documents updating security protocols for freight forwarders were completed a couple of months ago.
Last week, the TSA also certified the first freight forwarder facilities to participate in the new program, Rossi said.
The TSA is developing the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) to relieve pressure on airlines by encouraging shippers, logistics providers, freight forwarders and other cargo handlers to screen cargo in advance. Under the voluntary program, shippers who meet TSA criteria would be approved to verify that each shipment at the piece level was securely packed and sealed. Forwarders would have authority to deconsolidate large shipments and inspect each carton by physical or technical means before repacking the goods for secure transport to the airline ramp. The TSA must audit and certify each facility seeking to participate in the program.
Congress set a final deadline of August 2010 for inspecting 100 percent of airfreight in the passenger environment. TSA and industry officials argue that without pushing responsibility for screening up the supply chain airlines would face serious backlogs that would delay their customers' cargo.
Although 96 percent of U.S.-launched flights are of the narrow-body variety, the remaining 4 percent of wide-body flights handle 75 percent of the cargo. The Certified Cargo Screening Program is targeted at inspecting cargo that moves on large aircraft to domestic and international destinations. The TSA, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on Oct. 1 required airlines to inspect all cargo on narrow-body planes such as Boeing 737s.
Shippers must sign the commitment letter, technically called an 'order,' accepting their security responsibilities and TSA oversight of their activities because TSA only has statutory authority over airlines and indirect air carriers. Airlines and freight forwarders already must meet sector-specific security rules to operate, but the rules had to be updated to include protocols for the CCSP.
Until the memorandum of understanding was approved, the agency could only pre-vet whether shippers qualify for the program by checking basic facts such as whether they are an established business, operating locations and commodities shipped.
Rossi said the TSA has received almost 500 applications from companies (evenly split among shippers and freight brokers) who want to participate in the CCSP, and the number of applications is escalating each week. That should increase substantially now that the regulatory process has been ironed out.
The TSA seven weeks ago began conducting security assessments of freight forwarders participating in a separate technology pilot in 18 major air cargo cities and has issued some certificates to valid facilities. The first forwarder certified was Boston-based Falcon Global Edge, Rossi said. At the same time, airlines are also being notified about which forwarders are delivering pre-screened cargo.
Rossi said there are dozens of forwarders – outside the technology pilot — already in the pipeline for certifications and “we are preparing to do hundreds of assessments in the next few months,” Rossi said.
TSA actually certified Falcon's facility in Union City, Calif., operating out of San Francisco International Airport. The sister company there, Falcon Global Distribution, primarily performs warehousing functions.
The technology pilot requires 14 forwarders to install and use scanning and explosive trace detection equipment at select locations to gather data on which systems are most efficient, accurate and reliable. Falcon's participation is unusual because the company is a small enterprise with about $30 million in annual revenue compared to the other large, brand-name freight forwarders such as BAX Global participating in the demonstration program.
Small air cargo companies have complained that they don't have the resources to acquire large imaging machines and other technology and that the program creates a competitive disadvantage without some form of government assistance.
Falcon will use advance technology X-ray and trace detection machines at the 35,000-square foot facility in California. (Companies in the pilot program received a federal subsidy covering an undisclosed portion of their equipment outlays.)
Falcon doesn’t expect to receive its equipment orders until mid-to-late January because manufacturers are facing production backlogs due to increased demand for detection systems of all kinds, Falcon President Richard Fisher said.
The TSA certified Falcon so far to conduct physical searches of shipments. Falcon employees have already been trained on using the security systems and will undergo more training once they are installed. TSA will conduct a follow-up evaluation of Falcon's facility to make sure protocols related to the detection systems are being followed.
Fisher anticipated his company will be screening 100 percent of live shipments with the new technology within a week to 10 days of delivery.
The 50 percent inspection requirement on Feb. 1 actually applies to 50 percent of the individual boxes on a pallet, not 50 percent of airway bills. That means that half the boxes will have to be screened by the shipper at origin or pulled and inspected by the forwarder or airline. But many companies like Falcon plan to go ahead and screen all their cargo to reduce operational complexity and mistakes.
Falcon serves high-tech, electronics, medical products, project cargo and automotive companies, as well as scientific institutions, and many of their shipments are booked on passenger aircraft.
'Our first focus was on our customers. We wanted to make sure that when their shipments got to airlines that no further screening would be required and that consistency of service would be maintained. When we book shipment we want to know that it still will ride on particular flight,' Fisher said.
The freight management company also saw an opportunity to market its screening facility to other forwarders who wanted to take advantage of the green lane to the aircraft but didn’t want to invest in equipment of their own, he added.
TSA plans to eventually establish criteria for neutral facilities to take on the security responsibility for a fee.
Falcon already had many of the standard security protocols in place that TSA looks for such as perimeter security and procedures for challenging unknown visitors and escorting them on the premises, its president said.
Now a whole new process flow has been created to control shipments in and out of the screening area and securing them until hand-off to an authorized trucking company for delivery to the airline.
Falcon's success in preparing their facility for the new cargo mandates 'shows that smaller companies' can meet the TSA's requirements, Rossi said.
TSA officials have expressed confidence that they will meet the 50 percent inspection deadline through the narrow-body screening requirement, screening by forwarders in the technology pilot, and volunteer shippers and forwarders doing screening with manual checks or equipment purchased on their own. TSA now has the mechanism in place to process all applicants in time, but the production backlog and uncertainty about how many shippers and forwarders will sign up raises questions about the agency will hit the deadline or have a several week lag.
One factor in the TSA's favor is the large drop in air cargo volumes due to the global recession, which should make it easier to hit the legislative target.
For more details about the CCSP program, read the December American Shipper, p. 42. ' Eric Kulisch
TSA air cargo screening program lifts off
