On the back roads and city streets of South Carolina, bus and truck drivers are not only keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, but they are also are on the lookout for potential terrorist threats.

The American Trucking Associations, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the South Carolina Trucking Association, provided a two-hour anti-terrorism and safety training session called Highway Watch for about 20 Columbia-area transportation and safety professionals Thursday.

Highway Watch seeks to prevent terrorists from using large vehicles, such as tractor-trailers or buses, as weapons.

“Our objective is that no truck is ever used as a bomb,” said Robert Palmer, national media manager for the American Trucking Associations. “(Drivers) know what to look for in their own environments, but we want to show them how it is easy to turn anything into something.”

Wayne Phillips, a Highway Watch trainer, taught the course to officials from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state Department of Education and otherpublic and private organizations in the state. They, in turn, will train bus and truck drivers with their respective organizations.

“The average American can make a difference. Terrorism can be deterred or stopped if we make the right decisions,” said Wayne Phillips, a Highway Watch trainer.

A special emphasis was put on protecting children in school buses.

“We have one of the most precious cargoes (students) in our seats,” said John H. Dozier, director of safety and information for the state Department of Education. “We want to heighten (bus drivers’) awareness ...”

Dozier said about 340,000 students ride 6,000 school buses every day in South Carolina..

After the recent school siege in Beslan, Russia — where more than 300 people died, many of them students — Dozier said school officials are more aware that terrorists can and will target schoolchildren.

“Bus drivers can be a very critical resource,” said Tommy King, Lexington 2 school district director of transportation and safety. “They cover every square mile (of road) covering the state, and that is a lot of eyes that can observe things that are out of the norm.”

In South Carolina, trucks deliver freight for 5,750 manufacturing firms, supply goods to 25,100 retail stores and stock 8,970 wholesale trade companies, according to the S.C. Trucking Association. Trucks also transport building materials for thousands of construction firms and the products from more than 1,500 agricultural businesses.

“I never want you to look at a bus or truck the same again,” Phillips said. “These are potential weapons against us.”

Highway Watch is offering training to commercial truck and bus drivers, school bus drivers, highway maintenance crews, bridge and tunnel toll collectors and others across the nation.

Roadway transportation professionals interested in additional information about Highway Watch can contact the South Carolina Trucking Association at 799-4306 or highwaywatch@sctrucking.org.

Reach Jackson at (803) 771-8512 or scjackson@thestate.com.