The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wants a truck-lockup rule because it worries about terrorists accessing unlocked trucks to hide remote-controlled bombs or other weapons aimed at cities or strategically sensitive locations, The Daily Press reports.
"Every truck that's on the road in the United States should be kept locked, and I'm steadfast in my commitment to getting that to happen," said George Rodriguez, director of cargo security for the maritime- and land-security division of the TSA.
Rodriguez was director of security for Overland Park, KS-based Yellow Corp. TSA was created to protect the nation's transportation system after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The requirement would apply to tractor-trailers, FedEx and UPS delivery trucks, and even trucks rented by people to move their furniture and other items. Vans, pickup trucks and other ordinary passenger vehicles, however, wouldn't be included.
For the next six months or so, Rodriguez said, TSA will be talking about the proposed rule internally, as well as with shipping and trucking companies. They'll come up with the actual wording on the regulation in mid-2003. That will be followed by a period for public comment before it can go into effect.
Federal officials said that now, only 20 percent to 30 percent of truck trailers and cargo areas were locked consistently.
Under the proposed change, trucking and shipping companies would be required to install locks on their trailers and storage areas. They would have to use them on federal, state and local roads. Drivers and trucking companies would be ticketed and face federal fines for not having or using the locks, Rodriguez said Dec. 5. He spoke at a cargo-security conference at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
But some trucking and shipping companies oppose the idea. Companies that have to make frequent daily stops say the required locks would hurt their productivity.
"That would kill us," Richard Goodridge, a senior business analyst with United Parcel Service, said. "If a driver has to lock the truck every time he goes into a building, and if a cop will give you a ticket if he pulls up and finds the door unlocked, I don't agree with that. That's overkill."
Drivers would be allowed to unlock the trucks to retrieve and pick up items. But they would have to keep them locked most other times, including when the truck is moving and when the driver walks away to make deliveries, Rodriguez said.
Goodridge said locks on the backs of trucks would prevent thieves but wouldn't do anything to stop terrorists hell-bent on carrying out a coordinated plan of attack.
"If a terrorist wants to get access to one of our trailers or trucks, a padlock isn't going to stop them," he said. "They're going to try to find a way to get inside the company, to come work for us, and get access to it another way."
