A set of security recommendations for the transportation of certain quantities of hazardous materials across the nation’s highways has been announced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
TSA developed security action items for general security; personnel security; unauthorized access; and en-route security. General security measures include conducting security threat assessments, security planning, protecting critical information and enhancing awareness of industry-security practices. Personnel security and unauthorized access refer to practices affecting the security of a motor carrier’s employees, contracted employees, and its property. En-route security refers to the actual movement and handling of motor vehicles transporting highway security-sensitive materials. A full list of recommendations can be found on TSA’s Web site under tsa.gov/highway.
"The recommendations, while voluntary, will help to ensure the secure transportation of potentially dangerous materials that could cause a significant impact if used in an act of terrorism," according to the TSA information.
The voluntary guidelines were developed over a three-year period by TSA’s Highway and Motor Carrier Division, in close collaboration with government and private sector partners. The resulting recommendations are structured to allow motor carriers and shippers to adopt measures best suited to their particular circumstances or operation.
"TSA recognizes that no one solution fits all motor carriers and circumstances," the agency stated. "Therefore, the security action items allow for implementation flexibility based on the assessed vulnerability of a particular process or operation. The goal of the affected motor carrier and shipper should be to implement these security action items to the fullest extent practical."
TSA said it will consider the security action items for development as regulations. Questions and comments from industry may be sent to the TSA Highway and Motor Carrier Division at [email protected].