A notice in the September 28 Federal Register will greatly expand the types of individuals qualified to apply for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card. Under a 2007 law, the Transportation Security Administration was only able to perform background checks for TWIC cards if the individual applying for the card is “engaged in the field of transportation.”
Previously, TSA defined the field of transportation extremely narrowly. The rule change expands TWIC eligibility to cover any “individual, activity, entity, facility, owner, or operator that is subject to regulation by TSA, Department of Transportation, or the US Coast Guard, and individuals applying for trusted traveler programs.”
National Tank Truck Carriers has long sought expansion of the TWIC program, according to Boyd Stephenson, NTTC senior vice-president. First, it provides employers with a low-cost method to ascertain that the card holder has not committed any of the criminal offenses that disqualify applicants. Second and more importantly, the TWIC card represents the trucking industry’s best shot to achieve a single security background credential.
For the last 15 years, truck drivers have been subjected to multiple background screening programs intended to promote security within a particular field, including those accessing airports, seaports, military bases, chemical facilities, nuclear facilities, and more.
As more individuals acquire TWIC cards, the program will gain the institutional heft to dominate the other background screening programs, according to Stephenson. Additionally, unlike the hazardous materials endorsement program, the TWIC card does not require demonstrating knowledge of how to handle hazmat. Rather, the TWIC card’s only function is to determine whether or not an individual poses a risk to homeland or transportation security.
As the TWIC program expands, NTTC and others’ efforts encouraging Capitol Hill and the federal agencies to adopt TWIC as the de facto screening program for all purposes will take on institutional and budgetary weight. Stephenson says the pending announcement represents a substantial step forward for NTTC’s advocacy efforts and, ultimately, to lowering background check costs for drivers transporting maritime cargo and hazmat. In the long run, this is a significant step for lowering costs for drivers in any sort of commerce where a background check is required.