Thirty percent of 6,767 cargo inspections by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) found security violations in the nine months ended in June 2008, according to Richard Skinner, the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general. Skinner was introducing a report that found:
… [redacted]% of the drivers we tested were handling or transporting air cargo without the required background checks. We also reviewed drivers’ records and identified that 23% did not satisfy the required training and testing requirements.
The agency’s inspection process has not been effective in ensuring that requirements for securing air cargo during ground transportation are understood or followed. The inspection process has focused on quantity rather than outcomes and ensuring corrective actions.
Other problems identified in the report:
- unauthorized entry to secured cargo storage areas;
- insufficient security screening of personnel; e.g. TWIC (Transportation Worker Identity Card) applicants aren’t required to submit a social security number;
- sharing of security documents amongst workers;
- TSA emphasizes the quantity of inspections at the expense of the quality of inspections.
The redacted report Security of Air Cargo During Ground Transportation is available as a pdf download (39 pp., 735 KB).
The TSA says currently 50 percent of air cargo on passenger carrying aircraft in the USA is screened. (Sources: Transportation Security Administration, Air Cargo; Bloomberg.com, “Cargo-Screening Flaws Put Fliers at Risk, U.S. Report Finds“)