Safer may mean slower
Peter Bradley, Editor in Chief -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2001
We're a few weeks into perhaps the most unusual war our country has ever fought, and the nation is still struggling to understand the breadth and nature of the threats we face.
What is certain, however, is that the transportation industry—and all those who depend on it—is at the crux of domestic concerns. As outlined in our news pages this month and last, national and state officials are scrambling to enhance the safety and security of the transportation system on land, on sea, and in the air.
Let's not underestimate the breadth of the challenge for the transportation industry. In this environment, every hazardous materials trailer or railcar, every ocean container, every freight-carrying aircraft, indeed, every package or envelope can be seen as a potential threat.
Yet it is crucial in these troubling times that those who manage and regulate the system make choices that provide the necessary security without unnecessarily impeding the flow of commerce. Our own actions should not unwittingly assist the aims of our enemies.
Some of the proposals in Congress could severely restrict the movement of commercial traffic. All of those proposals are made with the best of intentions—to protect the public insofar as possible from additional terrorist attacks. But any new rules or practices are certain to add cost and time to the nation's logistics system. Immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration moved to bar all cargo from the bellies of commercial aircraft—thankfully, a decision that was soon reversed. Now, security fees are raising the cost of air cargo. Tighter aircargo shipping rules make compliance with documentation requirements more imperative and changing forwarders more burdensome. Hazardous materials shipments and hazmat drivers have come under heightened scrutiny. The Coast Guard watches over the ships that enter our ports more warily than ever. Many rail shipments have been diverted from their most efficient routes in order to avoid populated areas.
Undoubtedly, some of the new restrictions and practices are needed. We will have to sacrifice some efficiency to provide for additional security. We can hope that the most onerous restrictions are short lived, but we expect some will become permanent parts of the way we do business.
In the end, I believe the transportation system will adapt, as it has in the past. A renewed focus on safety and security is a good thing at any time, and if we emerge from all of this with a safer system, that's a benefit. In the meantime, let's hope that shippers, carriers, regulators, and legislators show the intelligence and fortitude to do what they must without doing more than they should.
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