So. Calif. Port Workers Slow to Enroll in TWIC, Raising Fears About Possible Driver Shortage
By Eric Miller, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the May 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Enrollments in the federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential program at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., are lagging behind schedule, causing concern among port officials about a possible shortage of drivers when the TWIC is required for entry this fall.
Only about one-fourth of an estimated 60,000 drayage drivers and dockworkers who work at either port have signed up since mid-December, when enrollment began, said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach.
Greg Soule, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration said that, as of April 11, about 18,000 workers at the two ports had enrolled for a TWIC.
The U.S. Coast Guard, the federal government’s security enforcement arm at U.S. ports, has said it will not allow port workers and drivers into the ports without a TWIC, beginning Sept. 25.
The two ports also will require a TWIC for all drivers who want to register for drayage work under their individual clean trucks program that takes effect Oct. 1.
“I think there’s always some anxiety with programs like this,” Capt. John Holmes, deputy executive director of operations for the Port of Los Angeles, told Transport Topics. “From our perspective, the anxiety is a little bit magnified, simply because the TWIC program is very integral to our truck program.”
Even without enrollment delays, the ports are expecting that 15% to 22% of drayage drivers will either not apply or not qualify for the security credential, said
Gordon Smith, a Port of Los Angeles spokesman.
Because the two ports together handle more than 40% of the nation’s container traffic, a driver shortage could mean that some containers would not be moved from the ports on time, according to a recent economic impact study commissioned by the ports.
About 16,800 drivers and trucks currently perform drayage frequently at the two ports. Holmes said port officials believe the enrollments could be going slowly for two reasons: Drivers tend to procrastinate until the last minute, and they have little truck parking at the current TSA enrollment sites located in the downtown areas of Long Beach and San Pedro, Calif.
To make their concerns known, officials from both ports met last month with personnel from the Transportation Security Administration, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Pacific Maritime Association and government contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. and Science Applications International Corp.
One possible solution discussed was a plan to open up a new TWIC registration site in a trailer at an unused terminal at the Los Angeles port that is centrally located between the two ports, Smith said.
“We expect to have the site operational by June 1, 2008,” he said. “This site is close to the terminals where many truckers drive in and out, so we expect the convenience will help a lot more truckers sign up for the credential.”
Holmes said Los Angeles is planning to spend $100,000 to prepare the trailer and site, which will have lots of parking for truckers.
“Our thought is we’re going to make sure that the people who don’t register have no excuse,” he said.
Port officials are concerned because studies have projected a significant loss of drivers this fall when the TWIC and clean trucks programs take effect almost simultaneously this fall.
A major 2007 economic impact study predicted that in the “most likely” scenario for the two ports, container movement is delayed, causing delivery delays for retailers and for them to demand that shipping lines deliver the cargo to them on time. That scenario, in turn, will pressure the ocean lines to pay carriers more to get the job done, the study said.
As a result, both shipping rates and driver pay will increase significantly, the study predicted.
The study said the ports will need to replace the loss of 2,500 to 3,700 drivers to keep up with current container demand, plus add 3,400 new drivers and clean trucks by 2012 to keep up with the growth in the numbers of containers coming into the ports.
