In this post 9-11 world we live in, it is critical we take steps to improve the safety and security of the Trucking Industry which has proven to be our most mobile and flexible mode of transporting goods.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Building secure products actually makes for a safer world; many people in law enforcement may not agree with that.
Freight mobility and movement, while not a sexy policy issue, is a highly important one. Capacity constraints and congestion on our nation's freight rail system create many problems.
Safety on our highways has improved significantly, with the help of the Legislature and the media.
We recognize that it is not only inbound but also outbound (cargo) that can pose a risk as well.
Unfortunately, this is a free society, and we're gonna have people with trucks, and people with bombs.
Terrorists can utilize any vulnerability in the system and that would include outbound shipments.
We know that, too often, oil and other hazardous materials are shipped across the country on aging tankers. Too many communities have seen what happens when trains derail and in some cases catch fire.
What we're going to do is try to get TSA out of the human resources and personnel business and into the security business to connect the dots.
I knew trucking was growing. It grew from the Second World War to the time that I bought the bridge. There were interstate highways being built. I thought there was opportunity.
I am vigorously opposed to the Mexican trucks coming into the country. The way we have done it and, I think, the way we should do it in the future, is to have the goods come into the United States from Mexico within a 20-mile commercial space and unloaded from Mexican trucks into U.S. trucks.