newstodate.aero
Dec 18, 2012 (newstodate): Swedish cargo handling company Cargo Center is foreseeing an explosive growth in cargo screening operations after the enforcement of the EU Directive 185 concerning certification of "known consignors" in the air cargo industry.
Today, only nine companies in Sweden have been approved as known consignors allowed to send off shipments cleared for air transportation, according to Cargo Center, based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
-They are smaller companies with limited volumes of airfreight, which means that we fear an extreme increase in freight volumes arriving at our terminal as insecure goods.
According the company, only two percent of the goods are screened today, while another eight percent are screened on the request by airlines.
With this load, X-ray machines are working five hours a day, operated by one full-time employee.
If the current trend continues, 80-90 percent of the goods will be insecure requiring the company's two X-ray machines to work 20 hours per day requiring 8-10 full-time staff, but also leading to build-up of queues and additional expenses for customers.
As one means of stemming this development, Cargo Center will introduce sniffer dogs as the first Scandinavian cargo terminal.
-Dogs have been an approved method of screening for some time and are already in use in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.
-We have conducted tests showing that screening by using dog is significantly faster than technologies currently available for shipping, but they are also more expensive, says Cargo Center.
Today, only nine companies in Sweden have been approved as known consignors allowed to send off shipments cleared for air transportation, according to Cargo Center, based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
-They are smaller companies with limited volumes of airfreight, which means that we fear an extreme increase in freight volumes arriving at our terminal as insecure goods.
According the company, only two percent of the goods are screened today, while another eight percent are screened on the request by airlines.
With this load, X-ray machines are working five hours a day, operated by one full-time employee.
If the current trend continues, 80-90 percent of the goods will be insecure requiring the company's two X-ray machines to work 20 hours per day requiring 8-10 full-time staff, but also leading to build-up of queues and additional expenses for customers.
As one means of stemming this development, Cargo Center will introduce sniffer dogs as the first Scandinavian cargo terminal.
-Dogs have been an approved method of screening for some time and are already in use in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.
-We have conducted tests showing that screening by using dog is significantly faster than technologies currently available for shipping, but they are also more expensive, says Cargo Center.