Senator Seeks Hazmat Review for Drivers

Image
TT File Photo

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has called on federal officials to review standards for granting truck drivers hazardous materials endorsements.

In a letter to the Government Accountability Office dated Friday, Boxer cited a long record of violations by the gasoline tanker driver who caused a single-truck crash April 29 near San Francisco that caused a major freeway overpass to collapse.

Following the crash, Boxer, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, had asked the Department of Homeland Security to come up with stronger guidelines to ensure truckers transporting gasoline and other hazmat are fit for the job.

Her letter to GAO Comptroller General David Walker asked the nonpartisan agency to review hazmat endorsements, which are issued by the Transportation Security Administration, part of DHS.



(Click here for previous coverage.)