Thread: TX: County Commissioners approve Secure Border Project

08.18.08
County Commissioners approve Secure Border Project

EL PASO - County Commissioners approved the El Paso County's Secure Border Trade Demonstration Project (SBTDP).

The 3.6 million pilot project will equip three El Paso / Juarez maquiladoras with 30 heavy duty tractors/trailers with state of the art intelligent transportation system devices.

This kind of technology will serve to secure merchandise, and transmit key data into a central storage area.

The data will then be analyzed by software agents to detect anomalies, which may compromise the security of the protected cargo.

The program is funded through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)'s Coordinated Border Infrastructure (CBI) Program.

Bob Geyer, Director of the county's Rural Transit Department, explained to the members of the court that the objective of the SBTDP is to increase the security and efficiency related to the movement of goods and people at the Mexican and Canadian borders with the United States.

"The cargo will be tagged with radio frequency identification labels and will be monitored during their travel. If for any reason, the truck leaves their prescribed course an alarm will sound alerting the program administrator about possible irregularities with the protected cargo," Geyer said.

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)'s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research will be responsible for developing and coordinating a technology monitoring system and a quality control plan for the project.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection field office in El Paso has agreed to participate as an advisory stakeholder group for the technology monitoring system.

The process for request of proposal will be initiated during the fall season.

http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8860925&nav=AbC0

Cool!!!

Just what we a false sense of security! Let them Mexican trucks roll!

NOT

This system has been in use on cargo containers from 3 ports in Honduras for several years and has proven successful. from the fields to our ports in the US the cargo is monitored bsatellite.

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Program lets cargo trucks enter U.S. with ease
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 08/19/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


EL PASO -- Trucks carrying cargo from Juárez maquiladoras could one day zip through port of entry inspections into the United States if a pilot program is successful.
Commissioners Court on Monday approved an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for a Secure Border Trade Demonstration Project that will use the latest technology to monitor trucks and their cargo from starting points in Juárez to their destinations in El Paso.

If one of the 30 monitored trucks veers off course, has its cargo tampered with or another unusual circumstance occurs, a central monitoring station will immediately alert personnel to the problem and the truck can be held up for further inspection.

"The idea, obviously, is to speed the passage of trucks through the border," said Bob Geyer, the county's transit manager. "Once it is proved to work, we hope CBP (Customs and Border Protection) will adopt it."

During the three-year pilot program, the participating 30 trucks from three maquiladoras will continue to be screened at the ports as they are now.

However, if the program is successful, it could lead to the inspections being conducted at the plant when the cargo is loaded. The trucks would then be secured and electronically monitored as they cross the border more quickly along predetermined routes and make their way to their destinations.

He said in addition to decreased bridge wait times, the effort could also help improve air quality.

"This will help us as a community


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to ensure we are not a point of obstruction, but a point of opportunity," Commissioner Veronica Escobar said.
Commissioner Luis Sariñana said he was not so sure that the program would be beneficial and could pose security risks.

"If these trucks are given the green light, does that mean they can just go in and out of Mexico at will?" he asked.

The three-year, $3.6 million project is funded by about $2.9 million from Federal Highway Administration Coordinated Border Infrastructure funds. The local share of the project is about $720,000 and will be funded by an in-kind match from the company that is contracted to provide the service

Now that the agreement has been approved, the Texas Transportation Institute will be contracted to help develop the request for proposals for vendors. Once a company is selected, an advisory group for the project will be formed and will include Customs and Border Protection.

Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.




http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10241101? ... st_emailed

They are just smoothing the way for the NAFTA highway project and the continuous invasion of Mexican trucks to come back and forth accross the border by making us think cargo coming into the country will be safe.

Originally Posted by jimpasz

This system has been in use on cargo containers from 3 ports in Honduras for several years and has proven successful. from the fields to our ports in the US the cargo is monitored bsatellite.

This is interesting to me since I worked for the Port of L.A. Cargo containers have always been a question of security.