Falcon Global Edge, an indirect air carrier (IAC) that provides a range of supply chain management services, says that one of its facilities has been approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as a Certified Cargo Screening Facility (CCSF) in advance of a February deadline requiring that 50 percent of all cargo being carried on passenger planes in the U.S. be inspected for explosives.
Falcon Global Distribution, a unit of Falcon Global Edge, expects to receive one X-Ray machine and two explosives trace detectors by the middle of this month to begin screening cargo it consolidates for manufacturers in order to help TSA meet the air cargo screening mandate. Company officials wouldn’t say who they are purchasing the screening equipment from. Falcon Global Distribution is based in Union City, Calif., near San Francisco.
“We think it will help everyone and relieve the pressure point at the airports,” Richard Fisher, president of Falcon Global Edge, tells TR2, regarding the establishment of the CCSF. “We see benefits for our customers in maintaining the supply chain exactly how the want it to function.”
Moreover, he says, becoming a CCSF means Falcon will get to the “head of the line” when the shipments it consolidates are forwarded to the airline. There are already times when cargo misses a flight, and this “upsets our customers,” he adds. “We are in a ‘just in time’ environment, especially when inventories are getting leaner, so [becoming a CCSF] provides a huge benefit to our customers.”
In addition to acquiring the screening systems, some Falcon employees will go through operator training and the company will have to meet TSA’s requirements to ensure the facility is secure and the screening equipment is “unmolested,” says Jake Fisher, Falcon’s general counsel. Also ensuring a secure chain of custody for the cargo once it has been inspected and until it has been loaded on the plane is a key part of the program, he adds. Chain of custody procedures such as background checks on truckers and freight forwarders have been around since the late 1990s so this aspect is nothing new.
Certified screening facilities such as Falcon Global Distribution are being set up under TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP), which the agency established last year to meet the congressional mandate that all cargo being carried on passenger flights in the U.S. be screened by Aug. 2010. Currently, and under the Feb. 2009 and Aug. 2010 deadlines, the airlines are responsible for ensuring that the cargo is inspected before loading it onto their planes.
But in a number of pilot projects conducted by the Department of Homeland Security the past few years the to gauge how well airlines, as well as various technologies, can handle doing more screening than has currently been required, the department realized that it would be too much to have it all physically done by each airline. Hence the creation of the CCSP with a focus on having IACs, as well as other points in the supply chain such as the manufacturers, do more of the screening (see related story this issue on Rapiscan).
Falcon Global Distribution typically handles electronics equipment, both consumer and high-end products produced by Fortune 500 companies. The companies “are extremely concerned about the safety and integrity of their products,” Richard Fisher says.
The IAC typically breaks down the shipments it receives before repacking it for shipment to the airport. The Fishers say this mode of operation will fit well with the piece by piece screening of individual boxes their company will be doing as a CCSF.