AEMCA

On April 13, 2004, three of your AEMCA board members were invited to attend a meeting of various industry professionals and a dozen representatives from the TSA. The TSA Security Forum was held at The Transportation Security Coordination center in Herndon, Virginia.

Representing the AEMCA were James Weiland, Rocky Wilson, and Bob Serra.

Of the roughly 90 attendees the three AEMCA members were the only representatives from the expedited trucking industry. Other attendees came from the AfA, HazMat carriers, major corporations, and law enforcement.

The meeting, titled TSA Security Forum, “Linking Government and Industry in the Fight Against Terrorism” was designed to educate the attendees through a series of speakers addressing five areas.

Vision of “The Transportation Security Coordination Center” (TSCC)
Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES)
Highway Watch
Integrated Intermodal Information System (IIIS) and
Homeland Security Information Network

The focus of this meeting was two fold. First the TSA presenters addressed each of the topics above explaining what was currently being done and what the goals were that they needed to attain. Admiral Stone, the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration addressed the participants and emphasized the need to work with industry groups and organizations to help the TSA better understand our respective businesses and he concluded by encouraging the participants to offer suggestions to the TSA on how to formulate the means to carry out their security objectives.

It is our feeling that working with the TSA will help our industry to put in place measures that achieve the required security objectives. By working with TSA our input will help to create processes that make sense from an industry point of view, allow our industry to operate as effective as possible, and at a cost we feel will allow our industry to grow. What we want to avoid is the enforcement of laws that are enacted without regard to the future success of the industry.

The overwhelming message we heard was that the TSA is going to work through industry groups who can poll their members to provide input, and have one point of contact to secure the suggestions and opinions of many. With that in mind it is important that the Air and Expedited Motor Carriers Association secure the largest membership possible in order to have a voice that will be listened to.