The dog days of summer may have a different meaning this year. Large numbers of explosives-sniffing dogs will be crawling over airport warehouses by July 1 to help meet a requirement for screening shipments riding on dedicated cargo planes.
Global K9 Protection Group is a big provider of bomb-sniffing dogs. Many of them are dedicated to air cargo security. Now the company is using dogs to detect COVID-19 on people at Miami Heat games.
Amazon is the bogeyman for many people. Freight forwarders say if they have to screen cargo to get it on all-cargo planes then electronic retailers like Amazon should too. They see a double standard in the making by the Transportation Security Administration.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is not ready to implement new international security standards for cargo carried on freighter aircraft that go into effect next year. Whatever the plan, the air cargo industry will face higher costs to inspect cargo.
Southwest Airlines is a fan favorite in the freight forwarding community. Bar code scanning and canine inspection dogs aren’t pioneering moves, but could help keep that satisfaction quotient high.
After years of development work, TSA’s approval for third-party canine screening should provide faster and more accurate air cargo acceptance and security screening, and reduce truck detention at airports.
