One of the reasons that are considered to be causing driver shortage is the TWIC card, that is to say, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Since a lot of dry bulk trucking companies are transporting their loads to the maritime port facilities, the authorities created this card with the purpose to achieve a higher security level.
How can a truck driver obtain a TWIC card? In my opinion, it’s not that complicated process, the truck driver that wants to operate with a dry bulk truck shall obtain a tank truck endorsement and a hazmat endorsement(although hazmat loads are not that common for dry bulk trucking). What I think causes a problem to truckers that want to be part of dry bulk trucking are the fees.
For tank truck drivers, the TWIC card is causing some headaches. To get a TWIC card, the driver must have a current tank truck endorsement as well as a hazmat endorsement, which have separate fees.
Conclusion
All in all, dry bulk trucking has an enormous impact in numerous industries across the USA. As I mentioned in the article the demand for dry bulk services is constantly increasing, and straight proportionally to that is increasing the number of incorporated trucking companies that are specializing in dry bulk services.
