Smiths Detection's mid-sized X-ray system added to TSA's Air Cargo Screening Qualified List
By August 2010, all cargo carried on passenger planes will have to be screened; Smiths Detection’s latest addition to its list of cargo screening machines — a pallet-sized scanner — is the company’s sixth technology approved to help shippers meet TSA August 2010 100 percent air cargo screening deadline
Congress has mandated that by August 2010, 100 percent of cargo on passenger planes will have to be screened. What with the millions of piece of cargo being ferried on passenger planes every year, air cargo screening offers lucrative opportunities for companies with the right technology. Smiths Detection the other day announced that its HI-SCAN 130130T-2is X-ray inspection system has been added to the Air Cargo Screening Qualified Technology List (ACSQTL) by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The system, Smiths Detection’s sixth addition to the list, provides operators with two views of all scanned items enabling rapid and accurate threat detection.
Mark Laustra, vice president of homeland security at Smiths Detection, said: “We are pleased to have an additional X-ray system included on TSA’s approved list, a testament to our success in helping our customers prepare for August’s 100 percent screening mandate deadline.”
The HI-SCAN 130130T-2is, a mid-sized X-ray screener that can handle larger shipments, features a low conveyor enabling simple forklift operations to ease screening. Its larger tunnel opening can handle a wide variety of shipment sizes within a smaller overall footprint.
Laustra added, “Now is the time for air carriers and freight forwarders to use the many solutions available for them to meet TSA’s screening mandate without adversely affecting their business.”
Smiths Detection’s other five systems included on TSA’s ACSQTL include: HI-SCAN 6040aTiX, HI-SCAN 100100T-2is, HI-SCAN 10080 EDtS, HI-SCAN 10080 EDX-2is and HI-SCAN 180180-2is. The company says that all provide operators with dual views of screened cargo in a single scan, thus reducing the overall time required for screening.
In order to increase the speed of commerce, other advanced technologies like Smiths Detection’s explosives trace detectors are currently included on TSA’s Candidate Technology List for air cargo screening. These systems include the IONSCAN 500DT, IONSCAN 400B and SABRE 4000 explosives trace detectors.
