ATA Applauds House Panel’s Action on Background Checks
merican Trucking Associations said it applauds last week’s action by a House subcommittee to narrow the application of fingerprint-based screening requirements to drivers who transport security-sensitive hazardous materials.
The SAFE Truckers Act — as approved by the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on economic security, infrastructure protection, and cybersecurity — would differentiate between hazmats that pose a significant risk to homeland security and ordinary hazardous materials such as paint and perfume.
Currently, drivers transporting all types of hazardous materials in threshold quantities must undergo an onerous and expensive fingerprint-based background check, while under the SAFE Truckers Act, only drivers transporting security sensitive hazardous materials would be subject to fingerprint-based screening.
“Not all hazardous materials pose a risk to homeland security,” ATA President Bill Graves said. “This measure appropriately balances national security needs without unnecessarily burdening drivers and the movement of commerce.”
