Transportation is one of the areas in which a society is its most vulnerable. As the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath show, the enormous energy involved in moving goods and the challenges involved in transporting millions of containers each year translates into tremendous risk. In few businesses does time translate into money more readily than in refrigerated transport. Delays in shipment don't just mean lost time--delays strip life from goods, reducing the profits of everyone in the manufacturing and delivery chain.

According to International Refrigerated Transportation Association president Bob Mirone, the Sept. 11 attacks have resulted in significant, ongoing delays in the transportation system. Companies from truckers to warehouse operators to supermarkets are finding they're losing a day or more in the average shipment time due to intensified security processes.

Right now those delays are the result of ad hoc security procedures. That's almost definitely going to change, and soon, as the result of new legislation that's making its way through Congress.

Washington is about to start paying a lot of attention to seaport security. Some of the nation's most visible politicians are making boosting port protection one of their top priorities. "Our ports are a gaping hole in our national security," says Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY.

A traditional solution is about to be applied to this situation--regulation and more regulation. Senator Ernest Hollings, D-SC, introduced a port security bill in July that terrified maritime executives who felt it would add tremendous costs to doing business while providing minimal security improvements, if any.

"It's sort of like the story they say about taxes in Italy," says one maritime executive. "If you paid all the taxes you were assessed you would owe more than your income. If you give everything that the bills require it would bring this nation to a standstill. Hopefully, they'll decide what the appropriate level of security is, and then, just as importantly, decide who is going to pay for it."

According to the American Association of Port Authorities, there are at least seven major bills making their way through the system. Legislation in play ranges from Hollings' Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001, to a proposal by Senator Olympia Snowe, R-ME, to establish a Federal Emergency Transportation Administration.

The AAPA just issued an emergency alert about the legislative situation, warning that the transportation industry may face huge increased costs without compensation from the federal government because of the Bush administration's refusal to allow Congress to spend more than $40 billion on security.

The AAPA, in a special alert, says Republicans have vowed to block its passage on the Senate floor through a rule of order because it exceeds both the budget agreement and the agreement that only an additional $40 billion would be spent on terrorism in FY'02.

For the refrigerated transport industry, the biggest threat may come from the Imported Food Safety Act of 2001, which has a section the AAPA warns will give the Secretary of Health and Human Services discretionary authority to limit the ports where perishable cargo can enter the U.S.

AAPA warns that limits on ports of entry, even if only used in an emergency, could cause a tremendous backlog at already busy ports of entry and could disrupt the just-in-time delivery process that many food companies have come to rely on. In addition, the system could also place an intolerable burden on the ports that wind up receiving the diverted cargo. Port redirection is one of a number of different fundamental changes the industry will face as new security regulations go into place (see sidebar).

Staff members assigned to modify the Hollings bill say they're listening to industry concerns and trying to address them. Once the assessments are done, ports will be told to take action, says Carl Bentzel, counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere and Fisheries, which is working on the bill.

"After the assessments, ports and port communities will be required to set up programs that encompass certain areas of security, including credentialing, access and prohibiting firearms," Bentzel says.

While the training provisions of the bill probably won't generate many sparks, the requirements for background checks of port and port facility employees have left many members of the maritime community livid. Bentzel says there will be no avoiding these checks in the legislation.

"We are gong to be having some level of criminal background checks for all the personnel," Bentzel says. "Even with the longshoremen who were objecting to criminal background checks, now the question is not 'We're against background checks,' it's what levels of criminal background checks they can support."

Maritime labor union representatives disagree: "We've always felt this was an ill-placed priority," says one union executive. "No member of our union has ever so much been accused--let alone been convicted--of illegal drug transportation, drug running or anything of the sort. Likewise, no member is aiding or abetting the terrorists. The people who have been working the docks for years are suddenly a security risk?"

Bentzel says even if there is a risk of going too far, the maritime industry must improve its security: "We have a massive trade that is massively open. There are very few controls over it. There is very little information about it," he says. "Most ports tend to be in bays and estuaries surrounded by large population centers. That had been a low risk. It's not any more."

Sidebar: Challenges

Other challenges the transportation business will encounter will include:

• A national assessment of port security that will result in an in-depth evaluation of conditions at more than 300 of the nation's leading ports.

• Requirements to implement port security programs based on the findings of the assessment panels.

• Demands for extensive background checks on employees in key positions at maritime ports--especially those involved in handling cargo.

• Extensive security training of key personnel at ports and the companies doing business with ports.

• Mandatory electronic transmission of crew and shipment information.

• Installation of non-intrusive scanning equipment that can evaluate entire containers remotely.

• An increase in the percentage of containers checked out by customs and security personnel from the current 2 percent to 10 percent or more.