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(BN) U.S. Tightens Cargo Rules for Inspecting Cod, Roses

By Angela Greiling Keane

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. shippers are inspecting 75 percent of cargo such as fish and flowers traveling with checked bags on passenger flights after air-freight companies added gear to meet upcoming federal rules for examining all shipments.
The Transportation Security Administration said today U.S. airlines met a May 1 deadline for expanding inspections and now have three months to prepare for screening every piece of cargo flown in the bellies of passenger aircraft.
"This will not be an easy task but nor will it be impossible," said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Washington-based Airforwarders Association. "The combined resources of the forwarders, airlines, their ground handlers and product-sensitive shippers will make it happen."
A 2007 law in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks required electronic or physical inspection for three quarters of 9.5 million pounds of cargo shipped daily on passenger planes by this past weekend. Airlines face a bigger challenge in three months when all cargo on passenger flights must be examined.
Ocean Beauty Seafood LLC of Seattle, which moves more than a million pounds of fish a year, is among about 200 shippers now certified by the TSA to inspect its own cargo before tendering it to an airline.
Containers of Ocean Beauty's salmon, whitefish and rockfish are checked by hand before the cargo heads to an airline such as Alaska Air Group Inc., as required for cargo carried on scheduled flights. Without the certification, packages of Ocean Beauty's halibut and cod would be unsealed at a cargo facility before joining checked luggage.

Opening Fish Boxes

"We did not want our fish boxes opened up at the airport and changing the atmosphere inside the box that we had so worked so hard to ensure," Jan Koslosky, director of supply chain management, said in a telephone interview from Kodiak, Alaska.
The U.S. is helping carriers "without disrupting the flow of commerce," TSA Air Cargo Manager Douglas Brittin said in an interview at a Washington Dulles International Airport screening facility.
Airlines and their cargo customers had said the deadline to inspect everything was unattainable. Air cargo shippers, which include purveyors of perishable foods, cut flowers, electronics and pharmaceuticals, balked because they would need to open sealed pallets or containers, which may compromise the contents.
The TSA estimates the cost to screen all cargo may be $2.8 billion over 10 years, with industry paying about 75 percent.

New X-ray Equipment

Freight handlers known as forwarders who ship using passenger flights may have spent as much as $14 million for equipment to comply, Fried said.
The truck-size x-ray machine at Secor Group's Federal Forwarding Co.'s facility at Dulles might help shippers avoid opening cargo. The machine, made by OSI Systems Inc.'s Rapiscan unit, sees through shrink-wrapped pallets. Rapiscan and Smiths Group Plc, the world's biggest maker of airport security scanners, are the only companies with devices approved by TSA to screen palletized shipments.

Federal Forwarding, based in Washington, has inspected all cargo destined for passenger flights for about two months, President Larry DePace said in an interview.
"The most naïve people are the passengers who are sitting above the freight and don't realize it hasn't been screened," he said.
Federal's Dulles operation is among about 650 facilities owned by freight forwarders, which handle cargo shipments, and companies that ship goods certified by the TSA to inspect the goods, or less than 10 percent of all handlers.

Passenger Airline Access

Most cargo at Dulles is loaded onto passenger planes rather than on freighters, DePace said.
"Passenger airline access is key," he said. "The airlines count on the belly cargo for revenue."
The inspection program puts the burden for meeting the requirement on carriers such as AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. By August, airlines must either inspect the cargo themselves or accept containers and packages handled by certified third-parties shippers, such as Ocean Beauty.
Air Transport Association members, which include the largest U.S. passenger airlines, "are on track" to comply, said Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based group.
"The air cargo industry -- airlines, shippers and forwarders -- have been working hard to make the Aug. 1 deadline," she said. "This is a very demanding requirement and this collaboration has been indispensible."
Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who introduced legislation in 2003 requiring cargo inspections, has faulted delays in reaching 100 percent compliance.

Much More

"While TSA has made progress on screening the so-called domestic cargo, much more needs to be done to ensure that all the cargo entering our country on passenger planes from overseas is first screened for bombs and other dangerous materials,"
Markey said today in an e-mailed statement. "If the Christmas Day bomber had used a cargo container under the plane instead of his underwear to stash a bomb, the results could have been deadly."
FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc., the largest U.S. air freight carriers, are exempt because they fly planes without passengers.

For Related News and Information:
Air cargo rules: TNI AIF RULES
Amex Airline Index performance: XAL MRR
Air cargo and terrorism: TNI AIR TERROR

-- Editors: Steve Geimann, Romaine Bostick

To contact the reporter on this story:
Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at +1-202-654-1287 or agreilingkea@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or lliebert@bloomberg.net

Secor Group Acquires Majority Interest in Bolliger, Inc.

Washington, D.C., April 6, 2010 – The Secor Group, a global mobility, logistics and transportation company, announced today a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Bolliger, Inc., a 100 year old international moving company headquartered in Connecticut. The transaction will serve as the catalyst to launch Secor Group Mobility Services. This new company will combine the service histories, operational resources, technology infrastructure, and industry expertise of Bolliger and Security International (a wholly-owned Secor Group subsidiary) as well as leverage the core competencies and broader services portfolio of other Secor Group companies to meet the changing needs of clients around the world.

"It’s a rarity that two, 100 year-old companies share such business synergies and alignment for growth," said Chuck Lawrence, CEO, the Secor Group. "At a time when most in the moving and storage business have been slow to react to changing market conditions – and now find themselves ill-prepared to manage the economic issues confronting our industry – the Secor Group is maximizing its operational resources and solid financials to expand market share and accelerate growth by acquiring excellent companies like Bolliger.”

Although a number of acquisition targets were considered, Bolliger provided Secor Group the greatest opportunity to implement its strategic vision. "Integrating Bolliger’s market knowledge, global reach, and partner network with our operational capabilities and resources squarely positions us as an industry leader not only in volume but, also, service areas. With this acquisition, we will be able to rapidly build a sustainable presence in new markets, better serve and resource existing customers, and aggressively pursue other strategic business opportunities," added Lawrence.

Clients of both Bolliger and Security International should expect greater service benefits and operational efficiencies as a result of the acquisition. "This makes tremendous sense for our clients, shareholders, and employees,” said Steve Gerard, CEO, Bolliger. "It marks an unmatched opportunity for two mission-driven organizations to unify with a singular focus, preserve our identity and build upon a shared tradition of service, quality, and innovation, as well as pursue new avenues of growth, both internally and externally."

"We’ve always gone the extra-mile to offer the best service to our clients. With this acquisition and the follow-on launch of RedSky™, a state-of-the-art information and mobility management system, we will deliver a level of service integration, transparency, choice and efficiency not seen anywhere else in the industry," said Ray DaSilva, President Mobility Services, Secor Group. "This is only the beginning."

Both companies' Boards of Directors have approved the acquisition.

About Secor Group

The Secor Group is a global mobility, logistics and transportation company. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Secor Group’s roots date back 120 years to the oldest storage company in our nation’s capital – Security Storage Company. Founded more than a century ago, the Secor Group has emerged as an international leader, with fourteen transportation and storage companies under its corporate umbrella. From global mobility services to logistics management, office moving to heavy freight hauling to large scale storage of more than 1 million square feet, the Secor Group companies comprise every aspect of the industry. In everything we do, we are accountable, ambitious, responsible, engaged with customers and ready for change. These are the principles upon which we build our business – to be commercially astute, to accelerate innovation and minimize environmental impact, to earn competitive returns and contribute to our clients’ prosperity – and, it is in our outstanding people in which these ideals live. The Secor Group company portfolio includes: Security Storage Company, Federal Forwarding, Federal Moving and Storage, Security International, Security International Logistics, DD&S Express, DD&S Brokerage, Davidson Transfer and Storage, Davidson Forwarding, JVSS, A Alpha, RedSky LLC, and – now – Bolliger. For more information, visit: www.secor-group.com

About Bolliger

Bolliger is the most trusted name in international household goods moving in the tri-state (NY, CT, and NJ) area. Over 100 years old, it is a venerable institution in the New York metropolitan marketplace known for its high quality service and excellent accounts. Since 1909, many of the world’s leading news media, financial and pharmaceutical businesses have placed their employees’ possessions in our hands – and, we have delivered them safely from Shanghai to Stockholm, Santiago to Sydney. For more information, visit: www.bolliger.net

AMSA ProMover Program Information

AMSA launched a new consumer protection and certification program called ProMover on January 1, 2009. This initiative is designed to fight imposters, known within the industry as "rogue operators," like never before by giving consumers an easy way to separate reputable, professional movers from con artists out to make a quick buck at their expense.

The ProMover program takes the worry and the hassle out of moving by helping consumers identify quality professional movers who subscribe to our goals and by providing them with information and assistance with everything from finding a mover, to getting an estimate and packing tips, to understanding valuation and insurance.

Under our new requirements, standards for AMSA membership have been expanded to include a review of any felony convictions of the company’s owners, officers or majority stockholders regarding matters over which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB) or any state consumer protection agency has jurisdiction; verification of company ownership with the appropriate state corporation commission; and a review of each applicant’s Web site for improper advertising. Each new applicant must also complete a signatory agreement attesting it will comply with FMCSA and STB regulations and uphold the AMSA Code of Ethics.

We’ve also instituting an easily-recognizable ProMover logo that stands for a set of basic, honest business principles -- a distinctive, stylized "M" that at a glance will give customers the confidence and comfort of knowing they and their cherished possessions aren’t being taken for a ride. Starting next year, look for this “seal of approval” on a professional moving company’s Web site, in advertising and marketing materials, and in Yellow Page ads.

As the representative of the nation’s household goods movers, AMSA holds itself out as the good steward of the moving industry. We believe in effective government regulations and policies which enable our members to provide quality service at compensatory prices. Along with providing advocacy for consumers utilizing professional moving and storage services, we strive to furnish information that informs the public about their rights and responsibilities when they move and the value of professional moving and storage services.

The ProMover program promotes ethical principles in the moving and storage industry and works with federal and state governments to mitigate unethical moving practices; it clearly separates professional movers from rogue operators masquerading as legitimate movers. And most importantly, this program aids consumers by providing an identifiable measure of quality while, at the same time, enhancing the moving industry by encouraging and recognizing high professional achievement.To qualify as a ProMover, movers must pass a rigorous review of professional business standards. In addition, each mover must execute a Signatory Agreement affirming that they agree to uphold AMSA’s Code of Ethics and bylaws, to use/display any AMSA logo, including the ProMover logo, in a professional manner, and to observe all FMCSA/STB consumer regulations

Only moving companies approved to be ProMovers will receive access to our new logo and are authorized to use it in their advertising and promotional material. If you’re not already an AMSA member, sign up now to be certified to participate in this important industry initiative.

Did you know we also offer SELF-STORAGE and WINE and ART storage?

Need more space in your place? Visit us at our headquarters in Adams Morgan or email us.

Proud to Support the MS Society

Not only does Security Storage Company support the National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, our staff proudly participates in the chapter's signature events. The Walk MS are April 25 and 26, 2009, Women on the Move Luncheon is April 17, 2009, Bike MS Beyond the Beltway is June 6 and 7, 2009, and the Capital Challenge Walk MS is October 3 and 4, 2009. Join the movement. Learn about the MS Society at www.msandyou.org.

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