This is a rant ...As some of you know I drive trucks and do hotshot runs. Yesterday I did a run taking two lithium-ion battery packs (2800 lbs) for Tesla cars from Reno to a hotshot in Salt Lake City, UT which was going to haul them to Chicago (non-stop). I get the batteries to SLC in about 9 hours (500 miles) and we load them into his truck and I head back. I run out of driving hours in Wendover, UT. I decide to fuel-up before hitting the rack yesterday afternoon. I fill-up and use the head while I am there. When I get to Ely, NV I realize I don't have my wallet. I know I used my wallet when I fueled up so I know the wallet was left there. I call them...no wallet was found. I yell,, "It was not lost there, it was left at the fuel desk!" The fuel desk is run by people who are....different (I will leave it at that). I call my credit card companies and cancel the cards, no big deal. But here is the big deal...I have a commercial license to drive tankers, hazmat, combinations with airport clearance, port clearance (TWIC) card, a valid medical card, a SS card. You name it whoever has my wallet got it. Whoever has my wallet has the ability to be me and I have the clearances to get them into some heavy-duty clearance areas with dangerous materials measured in tons. Now I know the chances of the wallet falling into the hands of someone who would want to do something heinous is slim, but it is real nonetheless.

So I start to report the loss to someone who cares...on a Saturday (today). Can't get Nevada DMV commercial division or just Nevada DMV, can't get Nevada Highway Patrol, can't get TSA. You get the picture, no one is around. Call FBI field office in Las Vegas - nothing. Call Homeland Security...someone is home. Explain situation to someone and get switched to three different people who I explain the situation to. Last person takes my name, number etc. then tells me to originate a report with my local sheriff's office which will then be forwarded to Homeland Security. Call my sheriff, they don't care...tell me to report it to Tooele, UT sheriff office. Call sheriff in Utah, they want to file it as a "lost wallet". I explain that they need to report it to Homeland Security...they don't know how and why is my wallet a security matter? I explain my license and clearances then say, "Can you see a set of tankers full of Jet A going into Salt Lake City Airport with Osama at the wheel?" I feel like reaching through the phone and throttling the fool! "With my wallet, you would be cleared to drive a set of doubles anywhere in the US without question. Hijack some tankers and you are in business! Do you know what can happen...think...try to think."



No one cares...the wallet is gone and I don't even care about that (though the wallet was made 40 years ago by a friend). So, when you see all this crap about "If you see something suspicious, report it" think about this episode and here is what will actually take place.

 

WOW is all I can think of

Yep report it TO WHO ????

I guess if my twic card gets stolen at least I'll know what to do....NOT

I feel for you Neal, good luck bud

 

If you haven't got through to anyone about items 2, 3, and 4, PM me.
You said you called DHS, where?

 

PM sent...

 

Received and responded.
We'll get ya squared-away....

 

I think you are overreacting. The LEOs know it is not a big deal, so they are not giving the case any attention. There are more important things for them to be concentrated on.

 

The local LEOs are obligated to take a report of a lost or stolen TWIC.
This in turn goes up the ladder.
There are other issues involved that the TSA will act upon once their TWIC help desk is called for a replacement card.

 

Your TWIC card isnt good for just you, when you have one of these and go to a refinery your one card is good for 4-5 guys who dont have one...... It covers them for some reason too.....

 

This is NUTZ!

 

You purposefully, or not, miss the point of the post. It is a hell of a lot of documents for NOT ONE civil servant to care about. Yeah, those desk jockies I talked today KNEW it wasn't of any importance. Give me a break...I wrote "Now I know the chances of the wallet falling into the hands of someone who would want to do something heinous is slim, but it is real nonetheless." I wonder if this might be like flight schools trying to tell feds "They only want to learn to fly...they have no desire to learn landing." Go away kid, you are ruining my Saturday.

 

And what's funny, is when you GET your TWIC, they won't just send it out, you have to personally pick it up and sign for it, and they lead you to believe some stuff (what we find out now is plain hooey) about how important it is to protect it with your life, etc, etc, etc....

I didn't know that it was good as an "escort" credential, too. I thought everyone had to have their own individual TWIC. And, while that might be true at a refinery, it isn't valid for "friends" at a port or an airport.

I did find out a couple of months ago that my TWIC is acceptable identification at a pre-flight TSA line at the airports. Never showed my driver's license at all when we went to Boston.

I wonder how many on here have TWICs. Sounds like there might be a bunch of us.

Pop

 

I didn't know about the twic being ID at the tsa line at the airport, don't fly much (at all if possible)

 

The next time I fly will be when I sprout wings...

 

I hear you.....lmao

 

That would be me, too, but Boston is a ways away.

However, just yesterday I flew from Santa Monica to Mesa, Arizona. Don't mind flying that way. No IDs, no TSAs, no lines in which to stand, no cold hands scanning my bod.

A buddy has a Cessna 182.

Just pack a sandwich and a bottle of water, use the men's room at the last possible moment, and away ya' go!

Pop