SPECIAL FEATURE

A new world for
TRUCKING

While trucks quickly started rolling into New York and Washington D.C. hauling donations for the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, trucks entering the USA from Canada ground to a halt at the border posts due to stringent security checks. Such delays will most certainly have an adverse impact on the economies of these countries over the long term but the good news is that the technology exists to speed up the checks so as to get the trucks rolling again writes 
Patrick O'Leary. 

Freedom of movement has been a basic tenet of American life for many years. That changed forever on September 11th and the trucking industry was one of the first to experience what could become a new way of life for Americans - and indeed for nations across the globe.

While the immediate focus of increased security fell on the airline industry with all aircraft being grounded for the first time in the USA's history - the trucks on the road acted as the front-line guinea-pigs in a new wave of hands-on security measures implemented at all entry and exit points to and from the USA.

The volume of traffic crossings the border between Canada and America on a daily basis is probably the highest in the world and yet, despite the number of vehicles needing to clear customs, the average time taken to do so prior to Sept 11th was a mere 15 to 20 minutes. That changed overnight when truckers found themselves facing between six to eight hour delays at the border posts. The reason - increased security measures applied by border police.

"Not only were the trucks being thoroughly searched but so too were the drivers being checked out to an extent they had never been before. We understand the need for that and our drivers have been very co-operative. In fact, everyone is co-operating," is what Ret Tinning, sales manager for Berry & Smith, a Canadian based haulier of general freight, told FleetWatch in a telephone interview. The company operates over 80 trucks with its main market area being the Pacific North West. As such, Berry & Smith's trucks travel regularly between Canada and the USA.

The co-operation and understanding of such intensive searches is a new trait to all Americans, let alone the trucking industry. This is because the American way of life has, up to now, been one where the invasion of privacy is not easily tolerated. A little security is OK but don't inhibit too much our right to freedom of movement, has been the psyche of Americans.

Well, that's gone and it went with the invasion by terrorists of the airspace over New York and Washington's on September 11th. And what made the security checks even more intense at the Canadian/USA border posts was the fact that FBI investigations showed that some of the terrorists involved in the attacks may have entered the USA via Canada. With the word out that more attacks were planned, the border police were taking no chances.

Stringent border checks
David Abbott, a renowned radio and television commentator based in Vancouver, Canada, told FleetWatch that he had never seen such stringent checks in place.

"Up to now it's been an easy flow through the border posts. If a truck driver is a Canadian resident, has a valid drivers licence and if his papers for the load have been OK, he's been able to get through quickly. That's all changed now and I don't think it's a short term change. I think the truckers are going to have to get used to long delays and are going to have to absorb those delays into their costs. I anticipate many trucking companies having to restructure their businesses and operations accordingly.

"The other scenario," according to Abbott, "is that the consumer may, in the long run, have to pay for the delays via increased transport costs being passed on. The bottom line is that truckers are going to have to accept that stringent security checks will be built into the system until, if the day ever comes, the threat of terrorism is considerably diminished."

He went on to say that the attacks have changed the world politically, economically and irrevocably. "There is no turning back now. September 11th is the second day of infamy and all our lives, including those of the truckers of America - have been affected directly and indirectly - not just emotionally but also economically."

Hours of service problems
Interesting for our readers is that these delays presented an immediate problem for drivers in terms of 'hours of service' which are strictly regulated, monitored and enforced in both the USA and Canada. I'm not exactly sure how the 'hours of service' are made up in the States but the border delays added hours to a driver's record which took him over his allowed time for being on the road before stopping to rest.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), along with the Canadian Trucking Alliance, quickly picked up on the problem and held an urgent meeting with top officials at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with a view to obtaining relief from 'hours of service' under limited circumstances.

The outcome of this meeting was that the FMCSA stated that it realised drivers would need additional time to seek a 'safe harbour' for resting when entering the United States even though they could be out of hours as a result of the border backups.

A point for South Africa authorities to pick up on is that even given the grave circumstances, the FMCSA did not declare open book on drivers hours. Certain rules were still kept in place and transporters would have to provide proof that the 'violation' occurred as a direct result of the delay at the port of entry. And proof still had to include a note on the driver's logbook and a manifest and bill of lading.

In addition, the enforcement relief would only apply to a 50-mile radius from the port of entry and drivers would only be allowed up to two additional hours within the 50-mile radius to either find a safe and secure place to stop and rest and/or make the delivery.

Lesson for South Africa 
I mention that South African authorities would do well to pick up on this for there is a lesson here. Even though America was facing its darkest hours, the authorities still ensured that regulations applying to the trucking industry were adhered to - albeit with certain relief granted.

Interesting is that these rules did not apply to trucking companies engaged in the relief efforts after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Department of Transportation public affairs officer David Longo stated on September 14th that companies engaged in such work need not apply for exemptions to hours of service or size and weight rules.

"Since President George Bush has declared a national emergency, it is not necessary to ask federal officials for exemptions. All they need to do is document what they are doing," said Longo.

But back to the border delays and Abbott's comment that these are certain to become part of the truckers' lot in life. Given that as truth, this means that not only will the rates and operational structures of trucking companies need to be adjusted, but so too will there be a huge impact on the economy.

Is there a way out?
Canadian transporters who previously did say three trips per rig between Canada and America per day, will now be reduced to one trip a day due to the border delays. This is sure to have an adverse impact on the economies of both countries and particularly on manufacturing concerns which have built their processes around the Just-In-time concept of manufacture. Is there a way out?

"Yes," says Dr Frank Ogden, a renowned Futurist who lives in a world most of us are still heading towards. Widely known as Dr Tomorrow, Ogden is often described as a controversial and eccentric genius. He has given over 700 talks around the world to governments, corporations and wealthy individuals.

DR TOMORROW New technology will purify the truck and driver and expedite delivery in the fastest possible time  Frank Ogden, Futurist

FleetWatch traced him to his home in Vancouver - a dome-shaped type houseboat in Vancouver Harbour - to get his views on the way ahead for the trucking industry. And he is optimistic.

"I think new technology will help the trucking industry not only prosper but grow in the years ahead - and this despite the current crisis facing it."

He points to a new technology which is now out that will not only meet the security needs of border police but also serve to speed up the process of checking and thereby substantially reduce the delays.

The technology, considered by many as a major breakthrough, belongs to a company called Time Domain and involves a way to transmit information wirelessly but not using radio waves. Instead, it uses pulses of radio energy fired out at 10 to 40 million pulses a second. The new technology has a broad range of applications one of which is advanced radar systems that will permit law officers to see through walls. And this is where Dr Tomorrow sees an application to alleviate the border delays for trucks.

"In this application, what looks like a large trowel is put against a building to enable the police to see anything inside that building - including people. This can be used to scan trucks to quickly and easily detect contraband or terrorists. It will certainly speed up cross border checks of trucks," he tells FleetWatch.

RADAR TYPE TECHNOLOGY Dr Frank Ogden, more commonly known as Dr Tomorrow, sees technology as holding the answer to relieving the bottlenecks at border posts caused by stringent security checks following the terrorist attacks on America. He sees the introduction of x-ray type scanners which will scan trucks to detect contraband or terrorists hidden inside as a possibility. This photograph which clearly shows a woman inside a tent, was taken outside of the tent and gives an idea of what the scanners will show to police. (Pic kindly provided to FleetWatch by Dr Tomorrow).

Chip implants
As regards the checking of individual drivers, here too Dr Tomorrow sees technology playing a role in speeding up the process over the long term. "Sophisticated ID systems will be introduced using the iris of the eye as an identity feature or perhaps even implants which will allow people to walk through a scanning machine which will pick up their credentials by reading the information on the implanted chip."

As regards the fear of biochemical warfare as a new weapon of terrorism, he says here too technology will be used to literally sniff out potential lethal chemicals carried in trucks.

"There is a company in the perfume business called Fruits and Fragrances which has developed sensors which can be adapted or modified to detect any type of odour. These sensors could well be used to detect suspect chemicals on trucks by acting as a type of electronic sniffer dog," he says.

Ret Tinning agrees with Ogden that as a result of the attacks, technology is going to play a more prominent role in the checking of trucks and envisages the day arriving when sophisticated technology and systems will be put in place at container docks to clear both the truck and the driver at the point of loading.

"All that information will be scanned into computers and the driver won't have to clear at the border post. He will run straight through from say Vancouver to Washington."

This is in line with Dr Tomorrow's vision of using technology and systems to effectively "purify the truck and driver so as to expedite deliveries in the fastest possible time". 

Tracking technology
If such procedures come into play, then tracking the movement of trucks between the point of load and the point of delivery will also play a bigger role than it has in the past and in this area, South Africa could become a major player in providing the technology to do this.

What is not widely recognised is that South Africa is a world-leader when it comes to systems designed to track and monitor the movement of vehicles. And the irony is that the development of such systems was also spurred by a security threat - in our case, truck theft and hijacking.

Initially designed to track stolen or hijacked trucks, these systems have now been developed to the point where some of them incorporate both GPS and GSM technology thus making them, in effect, the operator's long distance eyes of control. Matrix Vehicle Tracking even has on-board video cameras which remotely transmits all movements in and around the vehicle to a control room - while the vehicle is travelling.

Increased inquiries
While compiling this special feature, FleetWatch spoke to Bruce Richards, sales and marketing director of Digicore Fleet Management, inventors and marketers of the C-Track GPS/GSM fleet tracking system, and it turns out we are not far off the mark in putting South Africa forward as a potential supplier of such systems into the USA.

"Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, we've seen a marked increase in inquiries from out of the USA for our tracking, security and monitoring products. Three of these came from the USA's Department of Transportation in Washington and another, also from Washington, from the Federal Transit Administration. We've also had some inquiries from Canada so all this tells us that since the attacks, the Americans are seriously looking for technology that will enable them to track trucks for security purposes," says Richards.

Interesting is that soon after the attacks, Digicore also received an order for 100 units from a transport company in Pakistan.

"We have an office in Pakistan but this order came directly to us," says Richards, adding that that office fits around 250 C-Track units a month. "And we are expecting an increase in demand - particularly from the trucking industry - which we link directly to increased security awareness following the attacks."

Just as September 11th changed the way of life of all Americans, so too did it change the operational lives of many trucking companies. However, as spelt out in this article, there is hope that via the use of innovative thought and new technologies, the inefficiencies imposed by current security necessities will be overcome and indeed, could lead to an even better industry over the long term.


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