A lot of air cargo spends part of its life on a truck: moving to an airport, recovering from a cargo terminal, or transferring between a warehouse and a passenger or all-cargo flight. That ground leg is where freight buyers sometimes assume the airline has already handled every security requirement, or that any roller-bed truck is automatically part of a screening program. Neither assumption is a plan.
Shippers who tender sensitive or time-critical freight into the air system need a working picture of who screens, who documents the chain of custody, and what the ground carrier is actually being asked to do. The overview below follows official TSA program language. It is educational, not a certification of any company’s status, and it does not replace the security program that applies to a particular airline, indirect air carrier, or screening facility.
Why a trucking company can sit in the middle of an air-cargo chain
Air freight often travels on unit load devices or airline pallets that are built to roll. Teocal’s page on roller-bed equipped trailers describes using roller systems to board and offload air-cargo pallets and air-freight containers, reducing extra forklift moves when the origin or destination can use those rollers. That equipment match matters. It does not, by itself, mean the freight has been screened, accepted as known-shipper cargo, or cleared for a passenger aircraft.
Teocal also publishes air freight services that include air charter, next-flight-out options, next-day delivery windows, and domestic and international moves, along with GPS and other tracking used to follow status and location. Those published service descriptions are a starting point for a conversation about the ground and air pieces of a shipment. They are not a TSA credential, a promise of a particular flight, or a guarantee of transit time or price.
The ground carrier may be moving freight before screening, after screening, or between two regulated parties. Your tender should say which of those jobs you think you bought. If the answer is unclear, ask before the pallet is built.
What the 100 percent screening rule actually covers
TSA’s Cargo Screening Program page states that TSA provides a system for industry to screen 100 percent of cargo transported on passenger aircraft. As required by section 1602 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, TSA requires 100 percent of cargo transported on passenger aircraft to be screened at a level of security commensurate with the screening of passenger checked baggage.
That requirement is about cargo on passenger aircraft. It is not a blanket statement that every truckload in the same warehouse has already been screened, or that all-cargo flights follow the identical passenger-aircraft rule in every respect. The same TSA page separately describes all-cargo aviation programs, including the Twelve-Five Standard Security Program for certain Part 135 all-cargo operations and the Full All-Cargo Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program for certain larger Part 119 all-cargo operations, citing 49 CFR 1544.101.
TSA also states that all cargo tendered for transport by air is subject to a search or inspection, and that anyone who tenders cargo for air transportation must consent or the cargo will be refused. Put that consent expectation in the shipping file so it does not surprise anyone at pickup.
Know the difference between a screening facility, an IAC, and a known shipper
Three labels get mixed together in buyer conversations. They are related, and they are not interchangeable.
Under the Certified Cargo Screening Program, TSA certifies cargo screening facilities in the United States to screen cargo before it is provided to airlines for transport on passenger flights. The program is described on the TSA cargo page and in 49 CFR part 1549, which sits inside TSA’s broader Chapter XII regulations. Certified cargo screening facilities must carry out a TSA-approved security program and follow strict chain-of-custody requirements, securing cargo from the time it is screened until it is placed on the passenger aircraft. Facilities that may apply include manufacturers, warehouses, distribution centers, logistics providers, indirect air carriers, airport cargo handlers, and independent cargo screening facilities.
Indirect air carriers are a separate category. TSA describes an IAC as a person or entity in the United States, not holding an FAA air carrier operating certificate, that engages indirectly in air transportation of property and uses an air carrier for part or all of that transportation. Each IAC must adopt and carry out a TSA-approved security program that meets current requirements and is renewed annually, as described in 49 CFR part 1548.
Known-shipper status is another layer. TSA requires aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, and IACs to conduct known-shipper programs as required by their TSA-approved security programs, citing 49 CFR parts 1544, 1546, and 1548. Through the Known Shipper Management System, TSA identifies and approves known-shipper status for qualified shippers so their cargo can move on passenger aircraft. Shippers may contact their transportation service provider and request to become a known shipper. That is a process with the regulated party in your chain, not a sticker you can print after reading a webpage.
Do not assume Teocal, or any other trucking company you use for the ground leg, holds a particular TSA certification unless that company has shown you the status that applies to your freight. Ask directly who is the regulated party for this shipment, who will screen it if screening is required, and what documentation travels with the freight after it is screened.
Write the documentation handoff before the freight moves
Screening only helps the next party if the paperwork and the physical control stay aligned. Before pickup, identify the shipper of record, the known-shipper status if passenger-aircraft carriage is intended, the screening party if one is already designated, and the ground carrier’s legal name. Verify that motor-carrier identity independently with FMCSA’s SAFER Company Snapshot so the truck at the dock matches the company you awarded.
Ask what documents will accompany the freight: air waybill or house bill references, screening confirmation if you are entitled to see it, seal numbers, piece counts, and any special handling notes. Ask who is allowed to break a seal if an inspection requires it, and how the freight is kept secure after screening. TSA’s program page emphasizes chain of custody from screening until the cargo is placed on the passenger aircraft. Your ground instructions should not create a gap in that chain by sending screened freight to an uncontrolled lot or an unidentified truck.
If the shipment will recover from a Western cargo terminal on a roller-bed trailer — for example, a Bay Area airport pallet moving inland to a plant, used here as an illustration rather than a customer story — say whether the receiving site can accept rollers, how many units will move, and what happens if the flight or the recovery window changes. Equipment, security status, and appointment time should appear together on the tender.
A shipper checklist that stays inside what you can actually ask
You do not need Sensitive Security Information to ask operational questions. You do need answers your receiving team can follow:
- Is this freight intended for a passenger aircraft, an all-cargo aircraft, or are you not yet sure?
- Who is the regulated party responsible for screening or for tendering to the airline?
- Has the shipper already completed known-shipper onboarding with that provider, if passenger-aircraft carriage requires it?
- What chain-of-custody steps apply after screening, including seals, holding locations, and who may touch the freight?
- What ground equipment is required, and does the origin or destination actually have rollers or other handling gear to match it?
- Which legal motor carrier will haul the ground leg, and does the SAFER record match the tender?
If a provider cannot answer those questions in plain language, ask to be pointed to the official page or to the regulated party who owns the security program for that shipment.
Do not over-read technology lists or marketing language
The TSA cargo page also discusses approved screening methods and an Air Cargo Screening Technology List, including a public non-Sensitive Security Information version and a protected version used by regulated parties. That discussion is aimed at people who procure screening equipment under a TSA-approved security program. It is not a shopping list for a shipper who needs a pallet moved to an airport, and it is not something a ground carrier should interpret as a bill of lading instruction.
Be equally careful with vendor language. Phrases about lowest prices, exact location at all times, or guaranteed on-time air delivery are easy to repeat and hard to defend. Bring the conversation back to which flight product is being requested, what screening status applies, what the ground equipment can do, and how exceptions will be communicated.
The same caution applies to canine or other third-party screening programs mentioned on the TSA page. Those are specialized tools used by regulated parties. A shipper can ask whether they will be part of a particular chain, but should not invent a requirement that every Western truck carry that capability.
Keep air-adjacent freight out of uncontrolled gaps
After screening, the security value of the shipment depends on who can reach it. Do not send screened freight to an unsigned street, an unidentified truck, or a yard with no access control simply because the airport appointment moved. If the recovery window changes, ask whether the freight should remain with the regulated party, move to a planned holding point, or be retendered with the same chain-of-custody instructions, and write that choice down so the driver is not inventing it at the cargo gate.
If an inspection or a search occurs, document what happened and who authorized any seal change. TSA’s consent-to-search language means cargo tendered for air transport may be inspected even if a shipper already screened it under the Certified Cargo Screening Program. Plan for that possibility in the schedule rather than treating an inspection as a surprise personal delay.
For high-value or otherwise sensitive pieces, pair the security handoff with ordinary identity discipline: match the carrier name and USDOT number to the tender, use a published dispatch number, and record seal numbers and piece counts at each transfer. Those steps are not a TSA program by themselves, but they keep the ground portion from undoing work a regulated party already performed.
Send the air and ground details together
When you request the next air-adjacent Western move, include the airport or cargo terminal, the inland origin or destination, the piece dimensions and unitization, and whether passenger-aircraft screening and known-shipper status are part of the plan. You can start that conversation with a freight quote request and a request to walk through the ground handoff. A clear screening and documentation conversation will not make a flight depart earlier, but it will keep a roller-bed pickup from being treated as if it had already satisfied every air-cargo security step.
Sources
- Transportation Security Administration, Cargo Screening Program, including the 100 percent passenger-aircraft screening requirement, Certified Cargo Screening Program, Indirect Air Carrier program, Known Shipper Management System, and consent-to-search language: https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/cargo-screening-program
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Chapter XII (Transportation Security Administration), including parts 1544, 1546, 1548, and 1549 as referenced on the TSA cargo page: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-XII
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, SAFER Company Snapshot: https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
- Teocal Transport, Air Freight Services: https://teocaltransport.com/air-freight-services/
- Teocal Transport, Roller Bed Equipped Trailers: https://teocaltransport.com/roller-bed-equipped-trailers/
- Teocal Transport, Truck Freight Shipping Quote: https://teocaltransport.com/truck-freight-shipping-quote/