Posted on 05/03/2005 2:12:01 PM PDT by LibWhacker
"Can't take it with you? Mail it instead," reads a sign posted on one of ReturnKey Systems' Automated Mailing Kiosks (AMKs) in the Newark Liberty International Airport. Thanks to ReturnKey and the company's AMK system, airline travelers no longer must forfeit personal items to the Transportation Security Administration, which since 9/11 has been commissioned to keep airlines free of any potential weapons. With the kiosks, items that would've been confiscated can now be mailed ahead.
The AMKs look much like ATMs. There's a touch screen where users can enter information and access directions, along with a mail slot for sending packages. To use the system, a user first enters personal information, such as a name and address, which is verified against United States Postal Service records. (If the information doesn't match up, the user cannot proceed.) Next the user identifies the article he wishes to send, which the system then checks against an extensive list of items prohibited by the postal service. If the item is accepted for mail delivery, the system takes a picture of the user that gets sent to an offsite location for storage and scans the user's credit card for payment. Finally, the user inserts the item into a depository.
An Automated Mailing Kiosk enables airport users to send prohibited items via mail. Though there is currently no insurance available, customers receive a USPS tracking number that can be used in coordination with the USPS website to locate their belongings during shipping. It costs anywhere from $6 to $22 to use the AMKs, depending on the item's size, weight, postage and the handling fee, and can take as little as two minutes to complete the entire process. AMKs can send items only domestically, but Steve Kranyec, ReturnKey's president and founder, says that international mailing should be available soon.
As of March, AMKs were installed in five airports, including LaGuardia, Newark and Dulles. According to Kranyec, the company "is in discussions" with a number of other U.S. airports. The system has been a hit with the TSA as well as with customers because the AMKs eliminate confrontations between frazzled travelers and security and airline personnel.
I used to do something like this when backpakcing out west due to obvious restrictions on stove fuels on airlines. Funny, the distributors could ship air freight the same items all day long, so we would call ahead to the national park destination or hotel of first night with permission. We then donated unused fuel to park service at the end of the trip. Worked great.
I have an older, retired colleague who has helped coach the U.S. Olympic fencing team for many decades. I met him the other evening and he said he was searched by airport security and they insisted on prying open and breaking some sort of fancy electronic gadget he uses to help time the fencers.
He said that has happened several times, so they are working out a system where their electronic equipment will be sent ahead by ground transportation.
If an elderly U.S. Olympic team official can't make it through the airport inspectors, who can? Isn't it good to know our security is in such discriminating hands?
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