The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act (TSSMA) is now in the congressional committee for the House of Representatives. Already it has received support from 150 different supply chain organizations to streamline business logistics in the American economy.

Details

Normally congressional bills are tens of thousands of words long, but not this Bill, at least in its current state at the time of writing. The even shorter version is that the Bill contains provisions that will cut down on bureaucratic obstruction in getting endorsements such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC),HAZMAT endorsement, and more, while also increasing safety standards for those drivers. Such provisions include:

• Offering a discount to individuals who opt to get multiple endorsements simultaneously.
• Reducing the number of background checks to one, comprehensive check rather than numerous ones for each endorsement.
• Providing state transportation departments with information regarding the expiration of these endorsements, especially if the expiration dates are different from the individual’s normal CDL expiration date.

The Bill has received bipartisan support in the House thus far, coauthored by Representatives. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana), Adam Smith (D-Washington), Mark Green (R-Tennessee), Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), Salud Carbajal (D-California) and Dina Titus (D-Nevada).

The Bill has also received significant support outside of the halls of the Capitol, including from the American Trucking Associations.

“There is no more effective way to thank truck drivers than by taking action to make their difficult jobs a little easier,”ATA CEO Chris Spear said. “[TSSMA] reforms the outdated, inefficient and costly bureaucratic system that forces essential workers to pay duplicative fees and undergo duplicative background checks to obtain the credentials they need to do their jobs.”

A similar Bill is also moving through the Senate with similar bipartisan support, further increasing the chances that these changes will be made into law.

Conclusion

Funnily enough, the Government Accountability Office recommended similar changes to the registration system all the way back in 2007. This only goes to show how slow the federal government can be at dragging its feet at getting things done, assuming that it does get it done this time around! We will have to wait and see.

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