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The ever informative "DANGEROUS" placard



While driving down the highway just outside of town, truck driver Ray Davies, who has been 2 times the allowable on duty driving time champion at "Fast and Cheap" trucking becomes a victim of Murphy's Law. You know the one about anything that can go wrong, does. The steering is loose, the brakes are out of adjustment and he has a blowout on the right front tire.

As he tries to regain control, he rolls the tractor and trailer onto its side and ends up in the ditch. All of this happens just 3 miles from his drop. Never mind the 19 hours by him self covering 1057 miles. As he is looking out the driver's side window at the sunset he is thinking about how PO'ed his boss is going to be.

The cargo consists of a mixed load for the local supermarket, inside he has 50 cases of Liquid Plumber, 25 cases of Safety Matches, 50 cases of Clorox, 400 cases of Beer, 300 cases of Soda, 450 cases of Motor Oil, 5000 pounds of Charcoal, and some paper products, a typical load for general trucking.

Does the trailer have a placard on it, Yup, it says "DANGEROUS". Well now lets all take the time to thank the person that came up with a sign that is real informative. Just what does dangerous mean, well one is "able or apt to do harm". It might burn, make you sick, kill you, or even not do anything to you.

Now that you know everything you need, how do you find out what is inside. The bills of lading are supposed to be in the cab within read of the driver. But as all you towing professionals know what the inside of a tractor looks like a bomb went off when on its side. How about on the trailer in the bill box, you have got to be kidding it's in the dirt or underwater if there is anything in it at all. Open the doors and look? This is a great way to find out how good hospital food is.


Another way is to call the trucking company and ask them if they know what is inside. The problem is trying to find them. Another way is to call an agency that might have some information that can help you. Chemtrec in the U.S. at 800-424-9300 (Alaska call collect at 202-483-7616) or for our northern towers, CANUTEC at 613-996-6666 collect. These agencies are for emergencies only.

Chemtrec is a public service of the Chemical Manufacturers Association and Canutec is the Canadian counterpart. Both of these agencies however will require some information to help you, such as;

Callers Name and call back number
Type and location of problem
Type of vehicle involved
Shippers name if known
Consignee's name if known
Carriers Name
Truck License number or tractor and trailer numbers
Local conditions (weather, wind, ground type, etc)
If any placards are visible
Any leaks or spillage, etc.


But the most important think is not to hang up until you are told to, write down everything that they tell you, it could save your life.
Well you found the bills of lading and Chemtrec verified the load, lets look at the load. Liquid Plumber is part Sodium Hydroxide which does not like wood or aluminum, the match's start fires when rubbed the wrong way. Clorox is part Chlorine and a strong oxidizer, the beer is part alcohol, but we all know that. The motor oil burns and produces very heavy smoke, and the charcoal is something we all understand, Right?
Is this a dangerous load, well the load is all over the inside of the trailer. The matches started a fire, the Clorox produces chlorine gas which was used in World War 1 as a massive offensive weapon, and it is also an oxidizer which means that it produces its own oxygen. The Liquid Plumber is eating away the sides of the trailer. The motor oil is burning and producing a very heavy smoke, and the charcoal is burning at about 1800 degrees.



What you would have is a very hot fire supplying its own oxygen, and producing smoke and poison gas which are mixed. The soda is sizzling, the candy melting and the paper products are burning. This is the worst case that can happen. The fire department would not leave you with a trailer on fire, but what if during the recovery something went wrong I hope that it never does but would you like to be informed as to the risk that you are taking.


One other thing to think about, 20 or so years ago before someone thought up the Hazardous Materials game, we did the recovery and shoveled dirt on the spill. Now there are about 100 different environmental laws and different agencies to deal with. Oh yeah don't forget to review your insurance because some will not over working with hazardous materials. The real problem is the long term picture of environmental damages, what the spillage will do when it reaches the water table many years from now. That is a scary thought. You can get sued or have claims filed 20 or more years after the accident or spill happened.
The best thing is to be informed and work carefully and do it right.