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In the far-reaching wake of 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been revising and implementing rules for airport screening, cargo planes and shipping containers. Road transport of hazardous materials, including anything from gasoline to asphalt cement to ammonia, is no exception.

With roughly 3.5 million truckers transporting an estimated 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials throughout the US every day, trucking companies will have to spend some time and effort to create security plans that specifically address their companies' climates -- the kind of hazardous material they usually carry and the destinations where their truckers unload the material.

Training and Background Checks

Under Rule HM-232, issued in March 2003, businesses must conduct "security awareness training" for Hazmat employees by March 24, 2006; new employees must be trained within 90 days effective now. Trucking companies must file their security plans with the TSA. Truckers who transport hazardous materials must attend security awareness courses (usually three days in length) and receive certificates that specifically indicate they are in compliance with HM-232.

In another rule endorsed by the US Patriot Act, drivers must undergo background checks, including fingerprinting by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The deadline for states to enforce mandatory fingerprinting is April 1, 2004, according to Darrin Kayser, a TSA spokesman. "Drivers must self-report if they have felonies listed under the Patriot Act," he says. These felonies include murder, bribery, illegal substance transport, immigration violations, unlawful possession of firearms, lack of valid US citizenship and identity fraud. A “not guilty by reason of insanity” will probably squash a Hazmat endorsement, too. Under the rule, background checks by the FBI may also be conducted. Truckers must renew their Hazmat endorsements every five years.

Other amendments include:

• TSA will commit to completing name-based background checks of all current Hazmat drivers.
• Upon TSA's completion of background checks, states will be notified to revoke the Hazmat endorsements of drivers who are discovered to have disqualifying offenses or otherwise pose a national security threat. As in the original interim final rule, drivers may then submit to a fingerprint-based application process to rectify the record.
• States may request extensions in implementing a fingerprint process, but they must have an implementation plan description by April 1, 2004.
• The background check covers the driver's criminal record of the past seven years. Depending on the disqualifying factor, drivers who lose their endorsements this time could reapply in seven years.
• Drivers can appeal within 15 days if they feel that revocation of their endorsements was erroneous.

Future Plans

According to TSA, one more amendment is forthcoming. The FBI would forward its information to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for analysis and the decision on whether the driver passes. The driver would find out DOT's ruling through his local Department of Motor Vehicles. If DOT cannot provide a ruling, it may ask the driver to contact the department to answer questions. Loss of the Hazmat endorsement does not mean loss of a commercial license; the driver may still transport non-Hazmat loads.

TSA eventually plans to create similar rules for drivers entering the US from Mexico and Canada. The process could take as long as two months, and could cost an additional $50 -- half of that would be for the fingerprints and half for the background check -- to be borne by the company or driver.

Feedback

The American Trucking Association (ATA) and other industry organizations have raised concerns about whether individual state plans will be so varied that the new rule will set drivers back every time they cross a state line. These associations advocate a uniform system.

Truckers like Dan Quirk, 45, of Erie, Pennsylvania, have no problem with following the new rules. "The new rules seem to be aimed at ensuring that holders of Hazmat endorsements are not threats to homeland security," Quirk says. "This is fine with me and the people I know.”

The purpose of this article is to both provide information and facilitate general dialogue about various employment-related topics. No legal advice is being given and no attorney-client relationship created. Please see the disclaimer for further limitations and conditions.