The Security Blog has learned that  Ryder, a global leader in supply chain, warehousing and transportation management solutions, hosted a U.S.–Mexico Border Security Conference April 7th to initiate information sharing between customers, business partners, and government security agencies and reinforce its commitment to proactively bring higher levels of safety and security to its operations and those of the customers it serves.  The conference, which took place at Ryder’s state-of-the-art Transportation Management Center in Ft. Worth, TX, featured presentations by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its component agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; International SOS; and LoJack Supply Chain Integrity.

“Long-term security issues along the southwest U.S. border, coupled with a recent increase in violence, are forcing companies that do business in Mexico to re-evaluate their supply chain security practices,” stated Eugenio Sevilla-Sacasa, Vice President and Managing Director of Ryder Mexico.  “As criminals increasingly look to leverage transportation and logistics networks for illegal activity, it is more important than ever for businesses to bolster security throughout cross-border transportation and supply chain operations.”

At the event, the Department of Homeland Security representatives discussed emerging threats and security trends impacting businesses with operations along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.  Participants also received an update on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a joint government-business initiative supported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  International SOS, the world’s leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare, and security services, shared advice on how to develop a comprehensive traveler security program.  LoJack Supply Chain Integrity, operators of the Supply Chain Information Sharing and Analysis Center (SC-ISAC), discussed technology solutions to improve security tracking, monitoring, and recovery.  The SC-ISAC collects, analyzes and disseminates security intelligence that helps the supply chain community and law enforcement protect the supply chain from illegal and disruptive activities, such as theft, terrorism and natural disasters.

“Increasing collaboration between government agencies and the private sector is one of the best ways to mitigate security threats against business,” said Sanford Hodes, Vice President, Safety, Health & Security for Ryder.  “We are grateful for the support of the Department of Homeland Security and Ryder’s other security partners at this event and are committed to continuing to share best practices and prevention strategies that improve security throughout our operations and those of our customers.”

Ryder’s Global Security team is charged with identifying and implementing proactive measures to reduce theft and losses; improve supply chain, cargo, and fleet security; and protect the Company’s and customers’ physical, personal, and intellectual assets.  In the interest of national security and as a responsible business entity, Ryder has a number of programs in place to improve security around the Company’s rental and lease vehicle fleet.  Ryder is certified as a Third Party Logistics Provider (3PL) in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) for logistics operations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.  Ryder was recently ranked number one for security practices in the Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain, and Warehousing industry sector in The 2009 Security Benchmarking Survey, a comprehensive security ranking for top corporate, institutional, and government organizations published in Security Magazine.