It’s something many drivers deal with every few years. Going to a shady-looking building and having to get fingerprinted and photos taken for that background check. In order to get your credentials for the Hazardous Material Endorsement or your Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC), there are a few hoops to jump through and money to be spent. People seeking TSA PreCheck will be interested to know this as well.
Luckily, drivers who need to renew their documents may soon have some relief in turn-around time. Both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 6571) and he U.S. Senate (S.4298) have bills in the docket to cut some of the process in getting these credentials.
A faster turnaround time for the clearances is the goal
By combining the background checks – for which you had to get one separately for each document – into a single request for all the programs, the sponsors of the pending legislation hope to reduce the workload and speed up the time it takes to get your cleared credential. The current wait time from visiting the service center to receiving the letter of approval is 30-45 days.
“TSA’s goal is to provide you with the status of your application within 30-45 days of receiving the information you provided at enrollment.”
TSA.gov
To be clear, this is only if you are seeking multiple documents in one visit. A special rule has been added to the House Bill H.R. 6571 that states you may be required to undergo another screening if you visit again at a later date. So it’s best to make a single trip and get all three documents in one attempt.
If these bills pass, one can only hope it also will reduce the price of getting these credentials in addition to the time it takes. It seems like every time I have to update mine, the price has gone up.
