Safety & Security Briefs — April 5 - April 11
This briefing can be e-mailed to you every week.
Just click here to sign up.
• Oregon Steps Up Safety Inspections
• Idaho House Passes Truck-Weight Bill
• Wash. State, B.C. Plan to Test Secure Licenses
• BNSF Sets Hazmat Railcar Changes
• Nevada Urged to Approve Entry Points
Oregon Steps Up Safety Inspections
Oregon State Police have set out extra inspection patrols for big rigs heading toward California on Interstate 5, the Salem (Ore.) Statesman Journal reported Wednesday.
The extra inspections started Tuesday and will run through midnight Thursday, the paper said.
Police were conducting extra inspections to make sure drivers were not impaired by drugs or fatigue, the paper said, citing police officials. Drivers were also asked to submit a voluntary, anonymous urine sample for future study purposes, it reported.
Inspectors found some inaccurate driver log books on Tuesday, and police said that truckers who receive incentives to pass safety checks typically have higher compliance with state and federal trucking standards, the paper reported. Transport Topics
Idaho House Passes Truck-Weight Bill
The Idaho House of Representatives approved a bill allowing heavier trucks to drive on hundreds more miles of state roads, the Associated Press reported.
The House voted 49-18 late last month to expand a 2003 pilot project that will allow 129,000-pound trucks on 1,250 miles of roads, up from 850 miles. The previous limit was 105,500-pound trucks, AP said.
The Senate has already approved the measure, which now goes to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R).
Supporters of the plan, sponsored by state Sen. John McGee (R), said that increasing payloads would in fact boost safety and cut down on smog, because fewer of the huge trucks that carry Idaho’s would on the roads, supporters said.
Foes, including nearly all the House Democrats, said expanding roads where the bigger trucks would be allowed to drive would impair safety and degrade the quality of roads more quickly, AP reported. Transport Topics
Wash. State, B.C. Plan to Test Secure Licenses
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell pledged last week to help lead smooth security checkpoints on border crossings, the Associated Press reported.
The two said the United States and Canada could move toward using enhanced driver’s licenses instead of passports or expensive new high-tech security cards at land and sea entry points, AP reported.
Campbell praised Gregoire and the Washington state Legislature for taking the lead to develop an enhanced driver’s license that has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security for testing as a secure border-crossing document, AP said.
The optional $40 license will be available in January and will include proof of residency and citizenship, and allow scanners to tell if the person is on a watch list or has a criminal record, AP reported. Transport Topics
BNSF Sets Hazmat Railcar Changes
BNSF Railway Co. announced Monday an effort to improve the transportation safety of toxic inhalation and poison inhalation hazardous materials.
The Western rail line said it will publish tariffs, effective Jan. 1, 2008, to restructure rates based on car risk factors in an effort to encourage shippers to use the most enhanced and upgraded available cars.
The tariff incentives are based on the most improved and enhanced car identified by the Association of American Railroads as the Department of Transportation specification tank car 112J500W for anhydrous ammonia, and 105J600W for chlorine. These cars can also be used for most other potentially dangerous commodities.
“Our number one priority is the safety of our employees, customers and the communities in which we operate,” says John Lanigan, BNSF’s chief marketing officer.
“AAR requires that any tank cars built after Jan. 1, 2008, meet these specifications and all shippers must convert their entire fleet to these cars by Dec. 31, 2018,” he said. Transport Topics
Nevada Urged to Approve Entry Points
A Nevada Assembly committee was urged to approve a plan for four entry ports on main Nevada highways, where high-tech equipment could scan up to 20,000 trucks a day to see if they are being used to smuggle drugs, people or explosives that could be used by terrorists, the Associated Press reported.
State Assemblyman John Oceguera (D) said his bill would provide for four ports of entry on Interstate 15 in southern Nevada and I-80 in northern Nevada, on the state’s eastern and western borders, AP reported.
He told the committee the goal was to reduce the state’s vulnerability and to know what trucks were carrying in to the states, AP said.
Lon Peterson of Asysco Technology told lawmakers that his company — working with a firm that produces X-ray devices already in use in many locations around the world — would install 10 of the devices and cover their $25 million cost for a cut of the revenue generated from truck inspections.
He estimated the total annual revenue at more than $14 million. Transport Topics
