Port of Oakland on Thursday, Oct. 28, announced the successful implementation of the Secure Truck Enrollment Program, a component of the port’s Comprehensive Truck Management Program. STEP was funded through Proposition 1B, a measure passed by California voters in 2006.
“We now have more than 5,000 trucks registered in this system,” says Omar Benjamin, port executive director. The more than 5,000 trucks in the registry all are associated with licensed motor carriers and trucking companies that have signed agreements with the Port of Oakland to be partners in a secure port.
“We incorporated feedback from the trucking industry, truckers, terminal operators, port staff, local community members and state and local law enforcement agencies as we moved forward,” Benjamin says. “STEP needed to be implemented quickly, and the success of the program is a testament to everyone’s cooperation and recognition of the importance of the program.”
The California Emergency Management Agency developed an inclusive process that allowed California ports to work together to prioritize security projects across the state relative to Prop 1B funding. “The port’s truck registry is a user-friendly database so that it’s easy for us to find the contact information we need and work collaboratively with local law enforcement if we have a report of suspicious behavior,” says Mike O’Brien, Port of Oakland facilities security officer. “We now have a fully-functional and centralized trucker database at the Port of Oakland. This new capability adds another significant layer to both maritime and supply chain security here at our port.”
The Port of Oakland contracted a team led by SAIC Inc. to implement the port registry. “We can also update the LMCs on the status of our port and the surrounding area so that they can make timely dispatching decisions,” O’Brien says. “This results in improving their operations.” The system will be able to integrate with other databases and technologies in the future.
