Post by HardTimeTrucker on Oct 30, 2008 23:05:16 GMT -5
Yep, still down: TWIC server problems delay pickups ’til Nov. 10
A power failure at the headquarters of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program continues to delay thousands of pickup/activation appointments for truckers and other TWIC card holders.
The Oct. 21 power outage wreaked havoc on servers maintained by the Transportation Security Administration, the agency administering TWIC. Since then, TWIC card applicants who had scheduled appointments weeks before have been turned away and told to wait for the computer system to come online.
“While we work to resolve this issue, workers nationwide will not be able to activate their cards until the week of Nov. 10,” TSA officials announced in a statement. “As a result of rescheduling activations, the compliance date for workers located in the Captain of the Port Zones Buffalo, Detroit, Lake Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie and Duluth has been moved from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1, 2008.”
The TWIC program will eventually require more than 1.5 million truckers, port employees, longshoremen, mariners and others who require unescorted access to secure areas of ports to have background checks before being issued cards with their biometric data and residency documentation.
Nationally, TWIC cards will be required for truckers and other port workers who need unescorted access into secure areas by April 15, 2009, although most ports are implementing earlier mandatory TWIC enforcement.
Eventually, TWIC cards could be an accepted standard ID for truckers to get into warehouses and trucking yards inland.
Standard TWIC enrollment costs $132.50, although workers with “current, comparable” threat assessment background checks such as hazmat endorsements, Merchant Mariner Documents or Free and Secure Trade (FAST) cards may obtain a TWIC card for $105.25. The card is designed to last five years.
Replacement cards for those who lose or damage their TWIC card cost $60, according to the TWIC Web site at www.tsa.gov/twic.
Applicants can pre-enroll for TWIC to save about five minutes of waiting time at enrollment centers.
As of Oct. 16, TSA reported that 76,231 truck drivers had enrolled in TWIC, and an additional 7,286 people had enrolled under the category “drayage truckers.” As of last week, 604,909 individuals in total had pre-enrolled, 524,944 cards had been printed, and 392,939 cards had been activated.
The TWIC help desk is available at 1-866-DHS-TWIC.
– By Charlie Morasch, staff writer
charlie_morasch@landlinemag.com
A power failure at the headquarters of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program continues to delay thousands of pickup/activation appointments for truckers and other TWIC card holders.
The Oct. 21 power outage wreaked havoc on servers maintained by the Transportation Security Administration, the agency administering TWIC. Since then, TWIC card applicants who had scheduled appointments weeks before have been turned away and told to wait for the computer system to come online.
“While we work to resolve this issue, workers nationwide will not be able to activate their cards until the week of Nov. 10,” TSA officials announced in a statement. “As a result of rescheduling activations, the compliance date for workers located in the Captain of the Port Zones Buffalo, Detroit, Lake Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie and Duluth has been moved from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1, 2008.”
The TWIC program will eventually require more than 1.5 million truckers, port employees, longshoremen, mariners and others who require unescorted access to secure areas of ports to have background checks before being issued cards with their biometric data and residency documentation.
Nationally, TWIC cards will be required for truckers and other port workers who need unescorted access into secure areas by April 15, 2009, although most ports are implementing earlier mandatory TWIC enforcement.
Eventually, TWIC cards could be an accepted standard ID for truckers to get into warehouses and trucking yards inland.
Standard TWIC enrollment costs $132.50, although workers with “current, comparable” threat assessment background checks such as hazmat endorsements, Merchant Mariner Documents or Free and Secure Trade (FAST) cards may obtain a TWIC card for $105.25. The card is designed to last five years.
Replacement cards for those who lose or damage their TWIC card cost $60, according to the TWIC Web site at www.tsa.gov/twic.
Applicants can pre-enroll for TWIC to save about five minutes of waiting time at enrollment centers.
As of Oct. 16, TSA reported that 76,231 truck drivers had enrolled in TWIC, and an additional 7,286 people had enrolled under the category “drayage truckers.” As of last week, 604,909 individuals in total had pre-enrolled, 524,944 cards had been printed, and 392,939 cards had been activated.
The TWIC help desk is available at 1-866-DHS-TWIC.
– By Charlie Morasch, staff writer
charlie_morasch@landlinemag.com