Port security moves into higher gear - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The new requirements, which go into effecty in Memphison Dec. 30, will require all employeesx or contractors who need unescorted access to facilitied or vessels governed by the Maritim Transportation Security Act to have a specialidentificatio card. The program will affect more than 4,009 employees in Memphis. Once the program kicks in, workers will be requiredr to have a Transportation Worker Identification Credentiao administered bythe . The credentiall is a tamper-resistant biometric card whichcosts $132 and can only be obtainedr after a security assessment According to the TSA, about 1.2 milliob workers will need the card in the U.S.
In 4,251 people have applierd for the credentialwith 3,024 of those application s receiving activation. Chiefly affectede will be employees working on Presidents Island and the portof Memphis, and truck drivers who make deliveriese to port locations. The activatio n process can take up to 30 Those who fail to comply will receive a warning letter followed by a fine forrepeaty offenses. “Our compliance date for the port of Memphixsis Dec. 30 and we are confident that, due to the number of enrollments, our port zone is ready,” says Philio Boruszewski, contingency operations policy and planning officiao forthe .
“We have done a great job with outreach and our port partneras have done a great jobwith outreach.” While the prograj is designed to heighten security at U.S. ports, the new requirements have presentedd a number of The main issue Boruszewski and the Coast Guarfd in Memphis are trying to solver is getting the word out on exactlyg who will needa TWIC. “The population group we had the most concernsa about was thetrucking industry,” Boruszewskiu says. “Not so much the trucking operations that haul out of the butthe over-the-road truckers who mightf be making occasional deliveries on the coastr or inland rivers.
” In Memphis, trucko drivers were the secon largest occupation to apply for the TWIC, with 700 behind vessel crew members, with 1,081 applications. Outside of the transportation industry, 673 people have applied for the TWIC from facilitiesd operating near the Local companies making a living on the Mississippi River are voicing concernws about how the new requirementw will affect theirbottom line. One key concern is the time it takesa for cards to be approvedsand activated. Companies that make new hires afterf the program is in place may have to wait up to a montjh for the new employee to receivea TWIC.
TWIC regulations do provider an interimworker exemption, but a new employeed must be escorted to work. “The kicker is goinyg to be when it goesinto effect, we will have new hiress and the interim work authorituy rules are not really where they need to says George Leavell, executive vice president of Memphis-base Wepfer Marine. “It is going to impact thoswe who can’t afford to be A lot of people we hire at theentruy level, they don’t have a job, and it is gointg to cost them moneu to get the card and they will potentiallyu have to wait 30 days before they can go to Besides the waiting period, cost will also likelhy be a factor for companies trying to get employees certified.
Boruszewskoi says several companies are subsidizing the cost of the TWIC forthei employees, but depending on the company’d turnover rate, paying for the credential could be Purchasing the card reader also loomsz as a major expense for companies. Under the first phase of the TWIC program, companies will only be required to have a credential foreach employee. Phase two, which the TSA has currently requires companies to purchase acard reader. Currentlgy the TSA is working to advance thecard reader’ws technology level, but currently a card reader can cost abou t $10,000. For companies like Wepfer, that will mean the purchasre of multiplecard readers.
“That will have a major cost factotr on small business and big Leavell says. “Our position on that is that the card readerf does not enhance security because we knowour