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Long distance truckers with their CBs close at hand can always be counted on to report accidents on the nation’s highways. Their resourcefulness has not gone unnoticed. The federal government is now providing funding, including at PSU, to train truckers to look for potential terrorists on our roads.

Portland State Extended Studies and the Oregon Trucking Association have joined forces to offer a Highway Watch training program as a way of strengthening homeland security efforts. A $150,000 grant from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will support the program, which will serve more than 4,500 Oregon trucking personnel and will be offered throughout Oregon.

The transportation industry has more than 3 million professionals who could potentially monitor for security threats at ports, airports, malls, bridges, and tunnels—thus giving greater range to homeland security observation efforts, says Bob Russell, president of the Oregon Trucking Association. Truckers can also report on broken-down vehicles, hazardous road and weather conditions, and other traffic safety issues.

“Highway Watch is a common-sense approach to expanding our state of readiness to guard against future terrorist attacks and to make our highways generally a safer place,” says Russell.