Does TWIC really mean “This will increase costs?”

By John D. Schulz, Contributing Editor -- Logistics Management, 9/1/2006

WASHINGTON—What’s so troubling about a two-by-three-inch piece of plastic? A lot, apparently.

When first proposed, the Transportation Security Administration’s Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program was supposed to cover up to 10 million transportation workers, including some 7 million truck drivers.

Thanks to lobbying by the rail and trucking industries, the TWIC program has been scaled back substantially. It is now supposed to cover just over one-half million workers, mainly in the maritime industry. But even that rollout has been plagued by delays and missteps.

TWIC was mandated by Congress in the 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act. Four years later, only a few thousand I.D. cards have been issued, and the program has been plagued by cost overruns, technical glitches, and missed deadlines.

The latest broadside came from the inspector general’s office of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Innvestigators there said that the TWIC program is plagued by “serious security vulnerabilities.” Another setback is a delay in the first phase of implementation, which requires port, terminal, and vessel operators to install automated card readers to help ensure that workers are legitimate and fully identified.

It’s a victory for facility and vessel operators. The Coast Guard has estimated that the card readers and associated software will cost $299 million to $324 million over 10 years—and some believe those estimates are low.

One problem lies with the software for the card readers, which must operate in harsh dockside environments. As a result, readers won’t be required until the middle of next year at the earliest.

The delay won’t compromise security because marine terminals already have Coast Guard-approved access-control protocols in place, said Earl Agron, vice president of security for APL. And it would be a mistake to introduce TWIC prematurely, he believes. “Facility operators would have to rely on less-effective backup procedures to keep the facility operating and trade flowing. These work-around procedures would not be as secure as the primary TWIC system.” Waiting until TWIC is truly ready would also minimize disruptions and costs for shippers, he added.

Less cost for shippers, but not for port workers. Union officials say their members are being asked to pay more for security. Besides fingerprints and criminal-background checks, they’ll have to travel twice to one of the 125 TWIC stations DHS plans to set up—once to apply, and again to pick up their cards—and they’ll pay about $140, up from TSA’s original estimate of $95.

“Why should workers bear the brunt of our government’s transportation-security programs?” asked Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, in a statement. He called TWIC a “glorified flash pass” that may never be used with biometric identification as intended.

Nothing about this I.D. system has come easily. A pilot program intended to cover 75,000 workers at a cost of $12.3 million wound up costing about $23 million. So far, it has only issued about 4,000 cards. Fewer than half have been activated, according to research by congressional oversight committees.