IT PAYS TO BE SAFE

No. 22, June, 2010
Transportation of Hazardous Materials II

Last week's It Pays to be Safe addressed the regulations in Part 397 concerning the transportation of hazardous materials. This week's newsletter discusses additional regulations governing the transportation of hazardous materials, specifically the operational requirements in §385 Subpart E.

Section 385.415 provides the operational requirements for transporting hazardous material. When the materials are in transportation, the driver must have in their possession a copy of the safety permit required, or another document showing the permit number. The driver must also have a copy of their written route plan that meets the requirements of §397.101 for highway route controlled Class 7 "radioactive" materials, or §397.67 for the transportation of Division 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 (explosive) materials. Lastly, the driver must have information providing the telephone number, including area code or country code, of an employee of the motor carrier or representative of the motor carrier who is familiar with the routing of the permitted material. The motor carrier's employee or representative must be able to verify that the shipment is within the general area for the expected route for the permitted material. The telephone number, when called, must be answered directly by the motor carrier or its representatives at all time while the permitted material is in transportation, including storage. Answering machines are insufficient.

With respect to the driver's operational requirements, there are additional reporting guidelines that a driver must satisfy. The operator of the commercial vehicle used to transport hazardous material has to follow the communications plan as required in §385.407(b)(2), and make contact with the motor carrier at the beginning of each duty tour, and at the pick-up and delivery of each permitted load. This contact may be made by telephone, radio or via an electronic tracking or monitoring system, such as QualComm. The motor carrier or the driver must maintain a record of communications for six months after the initial acceptance of a shipment of hazardous material, and that record must contain the name of the driver, identification of the vehicle, the permitted material being transported and the date, location and time of each contact required.

Finally, the motor carrier or the driver should contact the Transportation Security Administration's Coordination Center at 703-563-3236 or 703-563-3237 any time a driver suspects their hazardous materials shipment is lost, stolen or otherwise unaccounted for.