What is going down the road
July 28, 1983 Beaver, Utah
A 50 mile section of Interstate 15 was closed when 2400 gallons of
Sodium cyanide pellets were spilled from a truck.
December 13, 1988 Shelby, North Carolina
2000 gallons of gasoline was spilled when a tanker overturned.
December 23, 1988 Memphis, Tennessee
A propane truck carrying 9511 gallons of propane overturned on a freeway ramp, striking a section of an overpass and exploded, killing 9 people.
January 1, 1989 Tioga, Pennsylvania
8500 gallons of gasoline was spilled when the tanker overturned after hitting a heard of cattle on the road.
May 4, 1989 Waverly, Ohio
A carbolic acid tanker sprung a leak while driving down the road.
May 16, 1989 Richmond, Texas
600 gallons leaked from a ruptured 7000 gallon tanker, carrying Naptha.
June 28,1988 Fort Worth, Texas
An 8000 gallon gasoline tanker overturned on an exit ramp.
Ever wonder what is going down the road in the trucks with the funny signs and numbers. Some of the cargos are enough to make you slow down or even get off the road if you could decode them.
Then there are the calls to get trucks that have overturned, when you arrived have you been told what was in the truck? The companies that responded to some of the above accidents know the answers.
I recently towed a vehicle for the state police and was told that nothing was in the vehicle, “BUT BE CAREFUL” and don’t cause “THE NOTHING” to tip over. I guess that we don’t have to know that something is dangerous; we are only the tow truck drivers. It was part of an illegal drug lab.
The things that are transported over the road may be acids, poisons, explosives, flammable liquids, or even radioactive materials to list only a few possible cargos.
This does not include the things that you transport home from the sore, cleaners, bleaches, fertilizers and other common hazardous materials, And then what about the people that have illegal drug labs. You don’t want to know what kinds of nasty chemicals that they use. Most of them in the unmixed state can do real harm to you. Forget it when they are mixed. Who knows what there is now.
Some of the things that you might see transported in trucks are to name couple common cargos are;
Sulfuric Acid
Gasoline
Propane
Ammonia
Acetone
Caustic Soda
Liquid Oxygen
Liquid Nitrogen
Naptha
Ammonium Nitrate
Vinyl Chloride
Hexane
These were observed in a 3 hour period at a scale house in the Seattle, Washington area. That did not include the other trucks that went though such as;
Pest control trucks (Poisons)
Welding trucks (Compressed gases – some are poisons)
Landscaping trucks (Fertilizers – Ammonium Nitrate is a explosive)
Solvent trucks (Acids)
Farm vehicles (Everything)
UPS – Fed Ex trucks (Everything including radioactive)
All of these things can be on the business end of our tow trucks due to accidents, rollovers, or breakdowns.
So how do you find out the cargos when all you see is a placard with a number on it and a simple picture on it if that much. Just what is 1356 or 2909 or even 1203? Well to decode the numbers you need a copy of the Emergency Response Guidebook or the Dangerous Goods Guide.
The Emergency Response Guidebook is put out by the D.O.T. (U.S. Department of Transportation) and it’s available from the following places;
U.S. Department of Transportation
Materials Transportation Bureau
ATTN DMT-11
Washington, D.C. 20590
American Trucking Association
2200 Mill Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
J.J. Keller & Associates
145 West Wisconsin Ave
Neenah, Wisconsin 54956
Labelmaster
5727 N. Pulaski Road
Chicago, Illinois 60646
The Dangerous Goods Guide is available from;
Canadian Government Publishing Centre
Supply and Services Canada
Ottawa, Canada K1A OS9
Now that you have the books or they are ordered, try this exercise for a week or two. Copy down the placards that you see and also mark down what the cargo was in the trucks that you towed. When you check them you might be in for a big surprise. Oh, the numbers are the same for railcars, but you have more quantity and it is along side of the road.
In further articles specific chemicals will be covered as they will be the most common cargos that you will see on the road.
July 28, 1983 Beaver, Utah
A 50 mile section of Interstate 15 was closed when 2400 gallons of
Sodium cyanide pellets were spilled from a truck.
December 13, 1988 Shelby, North Carolina
2000 gallons of gasoline was spilled when a tanker overturned.
December 23, 1988 Memphis, Tennessee
A propane truck carrying 9511 gallons of propane overturned on a freeway ramp, striking a section of an overpass and exploded, killing 9 people.
January 1, 1989 Tioga, Pennsylvania
8500 gallons of gasoline was spilled when the tanker overturned after hitting a heard of cattle on the road.
May 4, 1989 Waverly, Ohio
A carbolic acid tanker sprung a leak while driving down the road.
May 16, 1989 Richmond, Texas
600 gallons leaked from a ruptured 7000 gallon tanker, carrying Naptha.
June 28,1988 Fort Worth, Texas
An 8000 gallon gasoline tanker overturned on an exit ramp.
Ever wonder what is going down the road in the trucks with the funny signs and numbers. Some of the cargos are enough to make you slow down or even get off the road if you could decode them.
Then there are the calls to get trucks that have overturned, when you arrived have you been told what was in the truck? The companies that responded to some of the above accidents know the answers.
I recently towed a vehicle for the state police and was told that nothing was in the vehicle, “BUT BE CAREFUL” and don’t cause “THE NOTHING” to tip over. I guess that we don’t have to know that something is dangerous; we are only the tow truck drivers. It was part of an illegal drug lab.
The things that are transported over the road may be acids, poisons, explosives, flammable liquids, or even radioactive materials to list only a few possible cargos.
This does not include the things that you transport home from the sore, cleaners, bleaches, fertilizers and other common hazardous materials, And then what about the people that have illegal drug labs. You don’t want to know what kinds of nasty chemicals that they use. Most of them in the unmixed state can do real harm to you. Forget it when they are mixed. Who knows what there is now.
Some of the things that you might see transported in trucks are to name couple common cargos are;
Sulfuric Acid
Gasoline
Propane
Ammonia
Acetone
Caustic Soda
Liquid Oxygen
Liquid Nitrogen
Naptha
Ammonium Nitrate
Vinyl Chloride
Hexane
These were observed in a 3 hour period at a scale house in the Seattle, Washington area. That did not include the other trucks that went though such as;
Pest control trucks (Poisons)
Welding trucks (Compressed gases – some are poisons)
Landscaping trucks (Fertilizers – Ammonium Nitrate is a explosive)
Solvent trucks (Acids)
Farm vehicles (Everything)
UPS – Fed Ex trucks (Everything including radioactive)
All of these things can be on the business end of our tow trucks due to accidents, rollovers, or breakdowns.
So how do you find out the cargos when all you see is a placard with a number on it and a simple picture on it if that much. Just what is 1356 or 2909 or even 1203? Well to decode the numbers you need a copy of the Emergency Response Guidebook or the Dangerous Goods Guide.
The Emergency Response Guidebook is put out by the D.O.T. (U.S. Department of Transportation) and it’s available from the following places;
U.S. Department of Transportation
Materials Transportation Bureau
ATTN DMT-11
Washington, D.C. 20590
American Trucking Association
2200 Mill Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
J.J. Keller & Associates
145 West Wisconsin Ave
Neenah, Wisconsin 54956
Labelmaster
5727 N. Pulaski Road
Chicago, Illinois 60646
The Dangerous Goods Guide is available from;
Canadian Government Publishing Centre
Supply and Services Canada
Ottawa, Canada K1A OS9
Now that you have the books or they are ordered, try this exercise for a week or two. Copy down the placards that you see and also mark down what the cargo was in the trucks that you towed. When you check them you might be in for a big surprise. Oh, the numbers are the same for railcars, but you have more quantity and it is along side of the road.
In further articles specific chemicals will be covered as they will be the most common cargos that you will see on the road.
A good reputation is more valuable than money.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)
