Con Way Freight

Businesses play key role in thwarting terror

The tip that led Killeen police to Pfc. Naser Abdo on Wednesday prevented what could have been the second terrorist attack on the Army post, following a 2009 shooting rampage in which an Army psychiatrist is charged with killing 13 people. Earlier this year in Texas, a shipping company that told the FBI about a suspicious order for a chemical explosive foiled an alleged plot to blow up former President George W. Bush's Dallas home.

The enduring lesson for a post-Sept. 11 world: America's work force plays a crucial role in preventing potential terrorist attacks.

"A vigilant public and informed local law enforcement make it much more complicated for people wishing to carry out attacks to do so," said John Cohen , principal deputy counterterrorism adviser at the Homeland Security Department .

Federal and local law enforcement agencies have established programs over the past decade that encourage the public to report suspicious activity, and tips from businesses have led to multiple high-profile arrests.

Abdo, 21, who went absent without leave from Fort Campbell , Kentucky, earlier this month, was arrested Wednesday at a motel outside Fort Hood and charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device. Police say he was perhaps only a day away from unleashing bombs in a restaurant frequented by soldiers and attacking the Army post.

Abdo's alleged plan was cut short when Guns Galore employee Greg Ebert became suspicious after the soldier acted oddly while purchasing smokeless gunpowder, shotgun ammunition and a semi-automatic pistol magazine. Ebert's call to police and the soldier's subsequent arrest was a proud moment for employees of the store — the same place Maj. Nidal Hasan bought a pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting spree two years ago.

Store clerk Dave Newby said Hasan's purchase, while legal, devastated store workers and put everyone on higher alert.

"I think we all changed," he said. "It was terrible. We thought about coulda, shoulda, woulda."

Ebert noted this week that although there was "nothing extraordinary" about Abdo, he saw just enough to make him suspicious.

The retired police officer said Abdo arrived at the Killeen gun shop in a taxi — unusual for the Central Texas town — and proceeded to buy six pounds (2.7 kilograms) of smokeless gunpowder, while asking what it was. Abdo didn't say much as he paid in cash, and he didn't bother to collect his change or a receipt before returning to the waiting taxi.

Con-way Freight Sets 6.9% LTL Rate Increase | Transport Topics ...

Following several of its large less-than-truckload competitors, Con-way Freight said it will implement a general rate increase averaging 6.9%, effective Aug. 1.

The move follows similar rate increases announced earlier this month by UPS Inc . and ABF Freight System.

The rate increase will be implemented for customers on the company’s CNW 599 tariff and will apply to general LTL rates, minimum charges and accessorial or supplemental fees for special services for LTL shipments moving within the United States and Canada, as well as cross-border shipments moving between the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

Con-way Freight is a unit of Con-way Inc., which is ranked No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

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