Editorial: Still Waiting for TSA’s Answers

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ith literally days left before the first deadline for the trucking industry to undergo criminal background checks on its 3.5 million drivers who handle hazardous materials, the Transportation Security Administration wasn’t talking. And trucking was justifiably concerned.

While fleets have been ordered to complete the checks by Sept. 2, TSA wasn’t telling the fleets how their drivers have fared, and wasn’t responding to requests to move its deadlines back.

“The silence is deafening,” said Clifford Harvison, president of the National Tank Truck Carriers.

After days of rumors that TSA was about to make an announcement, by the time Transport Topics went to press late Thursday, TSA had nothing new to report.

We have come so close to the deadline that fleets could be paralyzed if TSA rejects a sizable number of drivers after the background checks.

And several states have warned that they would not be able to process the fingerprint checks of drivers that are part of the next TSA deadline, on Nov. 3.

“I’m disappointed that they have not responded to any of our requests,” said Harvison. “I would urge TSA to act promptly to prevent further uncertainty and chaos.”

In fact, Harvison said, he hadn’t heard from TSA since May 13, when he wrote the agency to request that it inform state agencies what would be expected of them in this process.

And chaos there may well be. There are about 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials every day in the United States, some 300,000 of which involve petroleum products.

Any move to disqualify drivers, without giving fleets a reasonable amount of time to find replacement drivers, could make the situations we’ve all been seeing on our televisions from recent events look like child’s play.

lack of drivers would have a much larger impact, and a much longer-lasting impact, on fuel delivery than the rupturing of a single fuel pipeline in Arizona last week.

It’s more than time for TSA to talk. Trucking needs to know which drivers haven’t met the agency’s standards. And TSA needs to respond to the trucking industry’s reasonable demands for sufficient time to meet the next hurdles.

Trucking is an enthusiastic partner in the drive by the federal government to tighten up security to prevent future terrorist attacks. But trucking deserves a responsive and communicative partner.

Let’s hope the telephone rings real soon.

This story appeared in the Aug. 25 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.