Twic cards???
- Thread starter asjssl
- Start date
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
if you get one....make sure the staff puts it into the system that you have one. i went 6 months with mine before being told i was just put into the system. this a week before i left. nice waste of a hundred bucks.
transporter
Expert Expediter
i have twic. i have yet to get a twic load maybe next year i will.
We have the TWIC card and as of right now no it has not helped us get a load but in the future yes I think it will. We decided to get our TWIC Cards now so that we were not under a dead line or in a huge line to get it. If you get the card on its own the card is good for 4 years if you use say your FAST card the TWIC will expire when your FAST card expires. We have used the TWIC card as ID a few times now at bases and it slowly seems to be coming into its own and recognized.
We have not yet got ours but are looking into it. I hope it is not the same waste of money FAST was for us. We never once ran a FAST load the entire time we had that card.
We also have never had a FAST load but we did cross a few times before we had our FAST cards. With just our drivers license and then our Passports and I believe coming back into the states with our FAST cards made life much easier. Once we had the FAST cards we were never questioned about anything and our crossings were very easy.
youngsamuel
Seasoned Expediter
I have had one for several months and it has not been required to date. I used to see loads where it was needed then I got it and haven't seen another. Murphy.
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
no. neither have i had a fast load since i got my fast card. just more ways to spend money. never had a load back from canada either.
The FAST card was supposed to be about doing "FAST loads," where not only the carrier and the driver were pre-cleared, but so was the shipper. The shipper has to jump through a lot of hoops to get cleared, and many didn't want to mess with the paperwork. For routine or frequent runs across the border (same shipper, carrier and consignee all the time), the hoops aren't as bad, since you've only got to jump through the hoops once, basically. But for infrequent LTL and expediting, it's a PITA for shippers. Thus, we will likely never see a FAST load in expediting.
It's nearly a lock at this point that we won't, since the FAST program has now morphed into something else entirely.
Like 3 years ago, when the US and Canadian Customs realized that FAST load would never be what was envisioned, the FAST card became something else. It became a verified method to ensure the proper background checks have been done (I'm OK, you're OK), a verified form of identification, and because of the bar code on the card, a quick and easy way to track all border crossings in either direction for both agencies. A driver's license and a passport doesn't give them anywhere near the type and depth of information that a FAST card does. So just because you have never gotten a FAST load (or ever will) doesn't mean the FAST card is worthless, useless or a waste of money. Far from it.
It's nearly a lock at this point that we won't, since the FAST program has now morphed into something else entirely.
Like 3 years ago, when the US and Canadian Customs realized that FAST load would never be what was envisioned, the FAST card became something else. It became a verified method to ensure the proper background checks have been done (I'm OK, you're OK), a verified form of identification, and because of the bar code on the card, a quick and easy way to track all border crossings in either direction for both agencies. A driver's license and a passport doesn't give them anywhere near the type and depth of information that a FAST card does. So just because you have never gotten a FAST load (or ever will) doesn't mean the FAST card is worthless, useless or a waste of money. Far from it.