Hazardous Materials Rules
By Richard Wolfe
The transportation Safety Act of 1974 gave the Secretary of Transportation the job of designating a quantity and form of material, or a group or class of such materials, as being hazardous material. The end result is found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49 Transportation, parts 100 – 199. If you feel bold, try to read and understand all of these rules.
Hazardous Materials include, but are not limited to, explosive, radioactive materials, ethiologic agents, flammable liquids or solids, combustible liquids or solids, poisons, oxidizing or corrosive materials, and compressed gases.
There are rules for kinds of materials being shipped, what can be shipped by motor carriers, and how it is to be marked. Parts 170-189 tell about marking the packages and vehicles. Some noteworthy exemptions in marking are worth talking about.
Shipments of radioactive materials for national security reasons by the Department of Defense or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and escorted by their own designated personnel are exempt from the regulations contained in parts 170 – 189. This means a trailer which says Pepsi or something else common might not contain what it is supposed to.
A label is not required on a package containing hazardous materials other than ammunition that is loaded and unloaded under the supervision of DOD personnel and escorted by DOD personnel in a separate vehicle. A label is not required on military ammunition shipped by, for, or to the U.S. DOD when in carload or truckload shipment, if loaded and unloaded by the shipper or DOD.
Other rules regulate vehicles carrying explosives to certain routes, and have restrictions as to the attendance and parking. Another rule is that noting in parts 170-189 in to the construed as nullifying or superseding regulations or laws of a state or municipal authority regarding the kind, character, or quantity of any hazardous material permitted by the laws or regulations to be transported through any urban vehicular tunnel used for mass transportation.
Placard size, wording, and placement location of vehicles are also stated, along with loading and unloading regulations that state where the bills of lading are kept and forms that certify that the load has been properly loaded and signed.
Specialized loading instructions cover explosives, nitrate of soda bags, strike-anywhere matches, nitric acid, batteries, poisons, radioactive materials, compressed gas cylinders, and flammable liquids, restricting load heights, placement, mixed shipments contents, and other things.
Other regulations specific the handling of broken or leaking containers, delays in transit, and undeliverable hazardous materials shipments. There spell out what happens if a shipment is delayed due to breakdown, strike, or closure of destination.
Accident procedures are specified for each class of hazardous material, and how to repack damaged or broken containers. Also included are notification rules for whenever there is any unintentional release of a hazardous material during transportation or temporary storage related to transportation of hazardous materials. There rules also cover both written and telephone notification of the DOT.
In the most basic sense, these rules will not affect us in the towing industry because of the nature of our business. Most of the time we are dealing with an emergency move under police orders.
(Article reprinted with permission of Towing and Recovery Phootnotes, and appeared in the August 1993 issue.)
