HAZMAT Truckers Oppose Transportation Worker Identification Card Demands

NITL (The National Industrial Transportation League) -- Logistics Management, 3/11/2008 11:57:00 AM

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has written a letter to the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council asking that truckers who haul hazardous materials not be forced to get a Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) as some HAZMAT shippers are now requiring.

The TWIC program is limited to maritime ports since officially being rolled out last year but officials plan to expand the anti-terror program to other parts of the transportation system eventually. The problem now, according to the ATA, is that commercial driver’s licenses that include a hazardous materials endorsement are nearly identical to a TWIC card in terms of the security threat assessment that has been performed.

Because of the similarity, the ATA believes that requiring HAZMAT drivers to also allocate a TWIC card will be too burdensome for some drivers especially given the early stages and limited locations for the TWIC application process.