Banning shipper built units?
That’s one of the proposals the TSA was considering back in March, according to this article from International Freighting Weekly, which quotes Jack Boisen from Continental Airlines:
Jack Boisen, VP for Continental Airlines Cargo and a member of several government-industry security committees, told the CNS Partnership Conference that the industry had worked hard with the TSA to ensure the rules were workable for air cargo.
He said: “There were some upsets with the rules that came out on 12 March, but you should have seen what else was proposed.
“Shipper-built units were that close to being out of the industry.” Among the changes from 12 March was a requirement for shipments weighing more than 68kg to be inspected or banded with metal or break-resistant plastic, if they were to be carried on the main decks of freighters.
The article, largely critical of the TSA (who isn’t?), also acknowledged that there have been massive organizational changes to the TSA which has hampered efforts in implementing programs:
“We have gone through some radical changes in the last six to eight months. We are recruiting and we need experienced staff, ” he said.
Boisen said there was also a problem of inconsistent interpretation by TSA inspection officers of the TSA’s own rules.
For example, a TSA inspector in one jurisdiction insisted on there being a security officer placed at the rear of air cargo warehouses.
Friedman urged the industry to let him and his team know where these inconsistency problems existed, adding: “This is a problem that we face and we are reprogramming our people to be on the same page.
“Give us a little bit of time and we will fix that.” Airlines and forwarders complained that the TSA restricted them from giving their respective customers information about new programmes, and Case called on the TSA to reach out to shippers to improve their knowledge of the requirements and expectations.
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