New bipartisan legislation introduced by two senators would, if passed, encourage the development of technology to attack the burgeoning problem of cargo theft.
U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) recently introduced the Cargo Security Innovation Act, which would, according to a statement from Blackburn, "ensure that those on the front lines of the fight against cargo theft have state-of-the-art technology to protect their operations."
The bill would create a pilot program within the Transportation Security Administration to deploy advanced law enforcement or cargo security technologies at intermodal hubs across the country. The bill calls for:
deployment of advanced law enforcement or cargo security technologies at six intermodal pilot sites
evaluation of the effectiveness of such a technology at combatting cargo theft in transit and at and around intermodal transportation hubs and rail yards with elevated levels of cargo theft
demonstration of the capacity for inter-agency coordination and technology integration
providing grants for the development of such technology
“Cargo theft is a pressing issue impacting businesses in Tennessee, and we need to shut down these organized crime groups that steal essential goods from Tennesseans to traffic drugs and weapons,” said Blackburn. “Our bipartisan Cargo Security Innovation Act would help law enforcement bring more of these criminals to justice and disrupt these sophisticated cargo theft rings to protect our supply chains.”
Click here for bill text.
The Cargo Security Innovation Act is endorsed by the American Trucking Associations, theAssociation of American Railroads, the Intermodal Association of North America, the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, and IMC Logistics.
“Skyrocketing incidents of cargo theft undermine our supply chain, raise costs for consumers, and place truck drivers and warehouse workers directly in harm’s way," said Henry Hanscom, senior vice president, Legislative Affairs at American Trucking Associations. "Due to the complex, multi-jurisdictional nature of these highly sophisticated crimes, only the federal government has the resources to take down organized theft groups. ATA commends Senators Blackburn and Klobuchar for introducing legislation to equip law enforcement with the advanced technological capabilities they need to keep pace with evolving criminal techniques and strike an effective blow against organized crime,”
Donna Lemm, Chief Strategy Officer at IMC Logistics said, “IMC Logistics supports the Cargo Security Innovation Act and looks forward to its speedy passage in Congress. This legislation actively engages preventative, collaborative, and technology driven measures to halt the rise of intermodal cargo theft."
