Do these rules really protect us?

In a controversial move, the TSA has decided that any truck drivers applying for a new hazardous materials license will be fingerprinted and undergo a background check before there license is approved. The article below mentions that the average cost of the license, with the new requirements is just under $100. One drawback of the background check is that it delays the licensing process and it costs money. One big questions is will anyone considering using chemical carrying trucks to launch an attack actually go through all this process to get their hands on such a truck or will they just steal it?

One security expert quoted in the article says something to the effect of we have to be careful or the laws we pass to make us more secure will harm the economy. It is also mentioned in the article that this licensing requirement may prompt truckers to move away from that segment to hauling loads that are not considered hazardous to avoid the hassle.

You can check out the article from USAToday via Yahoo here:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=716&e=24&u=/usatoday/20050420/ts_usatoday/truckersbristleatantiterrorrules