Senators Urge Background Checks for Hazmat Truckers

(Michael James - TT) Sen. John Breaux (D - La.)

Truckers who haul hazardous materials should be subject to criminal background checks, according to two U.S. senators.

Democrats John Breaux of Louisiana and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina called for background checks for all of the nation’s 2.5 million drivers licensed to carry hazmats by states, Bloomberg reported.

Congress may also look for measures requiring drivers to present identification when picking up cargo, Breaux said. Trucks make about 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials each day, according to Bloomberg.

Duane Acklie, chairman of the American Trucking Associations, asked Congress, on behalf of the trucking industry, for access to FBI criminal databases to perform background checks.

Such overtures have been denied in the past, ATA spokesman Mike Russell said, by law enforcement officials wishing to keep tight control of such information.

ATA said truck security was increased in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- especially after it was learned that suspected terrorists obtained commercial driver's licenses for transporting hazardous materials.

(Click here to read a statement from Acklie.)

7969