Word: truck
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...disappearance of a truck loaded with chemicals helped confirm fears among many investigators that the next wave of terror could come not from deadly germs but from a simple truck carrying explosives or some other kind of deadly goo. Why fiddle with bacteria when you can simply drive a tanker full of gasoline into a building...
...what if a terrorist commandeered one of the 500,000 yearly shipments of commercial explosives? One hijacking could net enough raw material for multiple bombs--or the truck itself could become a surface-to-surface missile if a kamikaze driver took the wheel. Nothing like that has happened, but the possibility has authorities across the U.S. frazzled. Two weeks ago, a water truck (with a sprinkler that conceivably could spray chemicals) was stolen in Colorado. After a day-long, statewide search, the vehicle turned up. "A couple of yo-yos stole it for fun," says an investigator. But before...
...attacks of Sept. 11 have spurred the trucking industry to improve its lax security. Some technology is already available. A security feature installed in some trucks is a tracking device similar to the transponders used on commercial jets. The device beams a truck's location by satellite to fleet managers, while a two-way messaging system allows drivers and trucking officials to stay in touch. Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego offers truckers a panic button. When it's pushed, a ping sounds in the company's network management center, a NASA-style command base with 31 computer monitors...
Panic buttons aren't standard equipment yet, not even for hazardous-material haulers. But since Sept. 11, more trucking companies are looking into them. Another device that could help, also made by Qualcomm, can stop a truck from operating when the messaging system is disabled. The technology is used in other parts of the world where terrorism has been a bigger threat, but few U.S. truckers know about it. "We didn't do it here because it wasn't a big issue," says Qualcomm's Chris Wolfe. "We weren't projecting a terrorist problem...
Some security advocates are asking Congress to help fund the installation of a panic button on every truck that hauls blasting agents. The Institute of Makers of Explosives, a trade group whose products are often shipped by truck, advocates federal background checks on drivers who haul explosives. "I don't mean you need a top-secret clearance," says James Ronay, a former FBI bomb expert who runs the institute. "But you need to know who that person is." Ronay's group is also pushing for a new federal licensing system for all purchases of explosives. Such licensing is now required...