Consolidated Freightways is asking shippers to adopt tighter security standards.

Last week Kevin Johnson, director of corporate Security for the country's third largest less-than-truckload company, called on shippers to take an active role in raising the security levels of freight as it moves around the country.
Johnson said that CF has been collaborating with the FBI as well as local and regional law enforcement agencies on a variety of tightened security measures that are designed to prevent freight losses.
He told an audience at the Eye For Transport conference, a professional group of shippers and carriers, that cargo theft losses are now running as high as $1 billion per month in the U.S. While more than two-thirds of the losses occur during the transportation of freight, Johnson said shippers and carriers can increase security simply by upgrading the information that moves with specific freight. "For example, serial numbers and model numbers of products should be available for every pallet of freight we carry. CF is working with shippers to develop better packaging processes, and is linking in-house loss-prevention teams with transportation managers," he explained. "In many cases, these are functions that can be upgraded right now."
Johnson said CF security teams have collaborated with the FBI to develop an array of security and loss prevention measures.
"We need to prevent losses before they occur, and we need a greater capacity to track and trace when freight is stolen," he explained, noting that law enforcement agencies on every level have been stretched to limits.
Johnson currently chairs the Security Committee of the American Trucking Associations.