EUROPE

FELIXSTOWE PREPARES FOR NEW ID CARDS

21 years ago

The thousands of hauliers passing through Felixstowe every day are soon going to require identity cards, the first of their kind in the UK, as the port increases security at its terminals.

Rotterdam is investing an average of €150m per annum in the period 2002-2012.

A group of volunteers will test the new scheme – the Road Haulier Identity System or RHIDES – in January.

The card is intended to deter container theft and in the longer term could be used to release import containers more securely to authorised drivers. Eschewing chip card technology, RHIDES uses biometric data to identify cardholders. Hauliers will be identified by a hand-scan after placing the card into a reader.