On April 29, 2007, a tanker carrying approximately 8,600 gallons of gasoline crashed and caught fire on an interstate in northern California near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The ensuing heat of over 2,750 degrees Fahrenheit caused a stretch of the highway to collapse, resulting in significant damage that will take months to repair. The accident has illustrated the threat posed by tanker trucks, which have the potential to cause widespread damage, whether in the event of an accident or a deliberate terrorist attack.
Criminals Obtain Commercial Licenses
The driver of the gasoline tanker that crashed in California has a criminal record that includes several arrests and a two-year prison term for drug-related charges. Despite this record, the driver passed a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal background check and an intelligence review conducted by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), raising questions regarding the ability of criminals to obtain commercial driving licenses. While the background checks are designed to identify terrorists, the rules may not prevent common criminals and former convicts from obtaining these specialty licenses.
According to a study presented to Congress in 2005, thousands of convicted felons are responsible and/or involved in commercial truck crashes every year. A separate study conducted by the US Department of Transportation Inspector General’s Office between 1998 and 2003 found that commercial trucking companies in 23 states were assisting drivers to fraudulently obtain licenses.
Pilot Program for Mexican Trucks
In February 2007, the US Department of Transportation announced that the US and Mexico would begin a cross-border trucking pilot program that will allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to make deliveries beyond the commercial zones in the US.
While the department has stated that the appropriate security and screening measures are in place, concerns remain regarding safety risks posed by Mexican trucks, which often do not meet US safety standards.
Tanker Trucks as Possible Weapons
Terrorists could employ a tanker in order to carry out an attack, to include driving a tanker with flammable cargo into a target or using an explosive device to blow up a full tanker, potentially near a highly populated area.
In recent years, there have been several incidents in the US that highlight the potential for a possible attack using a tanker truck.
• In August 2005, the FBI issued a warning to police agencies stating that al-Qaeda linked extremists may be planning to use hijacked tanker trucks to carry out attacks in major US cities, such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11.
• In May 2004, an internal New York Police Department (NYPD) memo focused on the threat posed by truck bombs, and included a list of tactics that terrorists were “trained” or “directed” to use in an attack in New York. The list included acquiring a commercial driving license to use a tanker truck as a weapon.
• In April 2004, a gasoline tanker truck was stolen from the TK Transport Terminal in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
• In December 2003, the Trucking Information Sharing and Analysis Center, with the approval of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued an alert regarding suspicious activity near Lake Erie and in North and South Carolina involving tanker trucks. According to the alert, the activity included: individuals taking photographs of facilities and operations; attempting to interview facility personnel for information on operations; following vehicles during routes; unauthorized individuals attempting to enter facilities; and staged accidents to force a truck to stop in an isolated area.
Future Implications
According to the Department of Transportation, approximately 800,000 tanker trucks carry shipments of hazardous material throughout the country each day. Of these shipments, about 300,000 are considered “extreme risk” to pubic safety.
Many of these trucks are traveling through densely populated areas, where an accident or deliberate attack has the potential to cause mass casualties, as well as inflict major economic damage.
Tanker trucks remain a significant vulnerability to US security, and will remain so unless additional measures are taken to bring a higher level of security to this industry.
