New background checks for hazmat licenses required by the Patriot Act are already causing problems in the hazmat driver pool, says the National Tank Truck Carriers.

NTTC President Clifford Harvison, in a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, says his association has heard from safety directors who have drivers who will not renew their hazmat endorsements.
"This is not because they fear what will be found in the background checks," he writes. "It is because there are plenty of other driving jobs where they will not have to endure the hassle and expense being required for this one class of drivers."
There is already a shortage of hazmat drivers, Harvison notes, yet hazmat drivers are not paid significantly more than other drivers.
Harvison asks that background checks for Commercial Driver's Licenses be extended to all CDL applications and renewals, not just hazmat licenses.
"If the concern is that CDL holders will use a truck to commit a terrorist act, then all drivers should be covered. As has been shown in the two truck-related terrorist acts in the United States - Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center - no CDL holder was involved and no special access to a vehicle laden with hazardous materials was required."