Groups air hazmat regulation concerns before congressional committe
Affected groups told a congressional committee on hazmat trucking security reform that both the current system and proposed changes are cumbersome and some believe not especially secure.

Michael Laizure, a Washington hazmat trucker, testified on behalf of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association before a House Homeland Security subcommittee in November.

“The chief complaints that OOIDA hears from drivers about the present system is the shortage of facilities, available times of operation for the facilities and the amount of time necessary to get results,” Laizure said.

The Transportation Security Administration should use the intensive background checks on truckers already in use by other federal agencies and have one database for drivers with security sensitive clearance, he said.

OOIDA believes the TSA lacks sufficient access to information to do equivalent checks on non-U.S. drivers, he added.