The Security Threat Assessments (STAs) under the Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) and the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) regulations (as well as other STAs) are duplicative and hinder the facilitation of commerce.  These background checks should be combined into a single program to save both funds and drivers’ time required to comply with what are now two separate and costly regulations.  Congress has authorized the coordination/combination of these programs, yet the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has not taken any action to truly join these programs.

A central reality of that supply chain is that unless the final consumer of a product is at an airport, seaport, or on a rail line, that product will complete its journey to retail or to consumer on a truck.  Unfortunately, current regulations proscribe a different security credential for entering an airport (Secure Identification Display Area or SIDA), carrying hazmat (the HME), entering a Department of Defense facility (Common Access Credential or CAC), priority border crossing (Free and Secure Trade or FAST), and entering maritime facilities (the TWIC).  The DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) even require a background check for regular visitors.  Although there is little variation in the background checks necessary to acquire these credentials, each requires a costly and separate enrollment process to apply for and obtain the credential.

Government efforts to date have created a fragmented security credential regime that includes the HME, the TWIC, the FAST card, the CAC card, and a different SIDA for every airport.  Drivers access all of these facilities to move freight, yet must acquire a different credential for each one.  The direct costs for all of them is almost $400 per driver, before counting lost productivity, time off required by drivers to gather their information, submit to the vetting process, wait (and sometimes correct), and pick up the card. 

To better visualize these costs, imagine a driver in Florida who transports hazmat, enters ports and transports produce to Canada.  The driver would have to pay $96 for the HME to carry hazmat, $132.50 ($105.25 if driver already has an HME issued post May 31, 2005) for a TWIC to enter the ports, plus $86 dollars for a separate Florida Unified Port Access Card (FUPAC), $50 for a FAST card for low risk clearance lanes at the border, and $27 for a SIDA badge at each airport it might be delivered if it becomes a time sensitive air-shipment —a cost of $391.50.