New US hazmat trucking rules may soon disrupt shipping

17 May 2005 22:03  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--Anti-terrorism rules for licensing hazmat truck drivers may disrupt a major part of US chemical cargo traffic beginning in June, a trucking authority said Tuesday.

 

John Donley, vice president of the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), predicted today that new federal licensing requirements for drivers who haul chemicals and other hazardous materials (hazmat) will cause problems when the bulk of hazmat-qualified drivers seek license renewals beginning in June. 

 

Anhydrous ammonia, paint, finger nail polish, Coca-Cola syrup and chewing gum extract are some of the many materials considered hazmat by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

 

The TSA rules require that drivers seeking to obtain or renew hazmat licenses submit to state-provided background checks, including photo and fingerprint verification. 

 

US trucking association officials are concerned that the states are not prepared to handle the flood of license renewals for some 1.2m hazmat-qualified drivers. 

 

Most states do not have enough fingerprint locations, and where there are locations their availability is limited, another tucking official told CNI.

 

“Drivers have waited in line to get fingerprinted and then left because they did not get through,” Dan England, chief executive of CR England Trucking said. “Delays in getting results back vary from two weeks to 180 days.”

 

Donley said that states would have to process 30,000 applications/month to keep things operating smoothly, and he predicted that many drivers would decide not to renew their hazmat license to avoid the hassles.

 

“TSA itself estimated that there would be a decrease of 20-30% in qualified hazmat applicants because of this,” Donley said.  “If there is a 1% decrease, it will be a problem for an industry that already does not have enough drivers.”

 

TSA, which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the rules because several of the terrorists who carried out the 11 September 2001 attacks had valid hazmat trucker licenses. 

 

Trucking companies are lobbying Congress to ease the problem and create an easier endorsement process for the drivers.

 

The NTTC is headquartered at Alexandria, Virginia. CR England Trucking is based at Salt Lake City, Utah.

By: Heather McGuire Doyle
+1 713 525 2653

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