Hauling Small Quantities of HazMat

Incorrect, Sir. I've done ammo and explosives for 12 years.
1.1, 1.2, 1.3 explosives are all Table 1 hazmats and require placards for any amount and have nothing to do with nuclear radioactivity.

These are examples of Table 1 hazmat placards http://www.roadsidehazmat.com/dot-hazmat-placards/category/1-table1-dot-hazmat-placards

These are examples of Table 2 hazmat placards http://www.roadsidehazmat.com/dot-hazmat-placards/category/2-table2-dot-hazmat-placards

I've hauled a lot of Table 1 stuff.

 

The problem, as Autocar and MNdriver are pointing out, is that you have to know, even if the shipper doesn't do his job, or doesn't know. The driver is the ultimate gatekeeper, and not just a dumb waiter in the logistic chain, or at least isn't supposed to be.

 

isn't it the shippers job to give you placards if your hauling hazmat?

if something were to happen. i'd think the shipper, driver, and carrier would all be in hot water.

 

Part of the packaging is also the truck placards.

 

Yes, it does state in the regs that the shipper is required to give you the proper placards. However, it is still the driver's responsibility to make sure that he/she has the proper placards.

 

OP go back to the MDSD sheets, one of the sections, usually around #10, lists the DOT Hazmat shipping information. Reading the ingreedients and making the assumption that it is Haz Mat could steer you wrong.

The quantity of the HM in the product can affect if the finished product is a HM or not...

The shipper should be placing labels on each drum that look like mini placards.

An alkaline soap w/ soduim hydroxide could have a corrosive label if the amount of sodium hydroxide is enough to make the finished product an HM.

The shipping papers should also have a description like CLEANING COMPOUND,NOS[CONTAINS SODIUM HYDROXIDE],8, UN 1760 pg III and the MSDS wil have the same description. and you should be placarded if moving over 1001#.

 

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/hazmat/trng-ed.htm



http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/hazmat/complyhmregs.htm

Yop, don't know a #### thing about this ####.
The last training I went to.
http://ammo.okstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=200&Itemid=76

 

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/hazmat/trng-ed.htm



http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/hazmat/complyhmregs.htm

Yop, don't know a #### thing about this ####.
The last training I went to.
http://ammo.okstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=200&Itemid=76

 

Besides understanding the placarding requirements you also need to understand the requirements for the shipping document (bol). Although it is the responsibilty of the consignor to ensure that all hazards are properly packed, labeled, and identified on the bol, you still have to understand what should be there. I spent 8 years on a P+D route for a major LTL carrier and I don't know how many times a shipper left something out. The carrier took hazmat problem very seriously as the fines are enormous if caught. You typically were fired after one or two warnings about picking up problem bills. There are a range of placarding requirements based on product class and amount, bulk, non-bulk, etc. The most common thing I found missing on a hazmat bol was the shipper certification. The shipper must certify (sign) mechanically or otherwise that the shipment was properly prepared. The name must be legible, essentially so they can come back to whomever said it was right incase it isn't. I've had shipper refuse to sign the bol on hazmat shipments. They'd often use the phrase, "the other driver doesn't make me sign it", or they'd refuse to sign it. Well the freight wouldn't get picked up then and I would advise them that the other driver would be facing discipline and we could call the DOT (I don't know who you'd actually call, scare tactic) to investigate why they couldn't abide by the law.
Enough babble

One thing I would be concerned about if I was you OP. Even though you are transporting what you classify as "small amounts" of hazmat. Are you authorized as a hazmat carrier and are you thusly insured as such? Unless I'm mistaken, you can't carry any amount of hazmat, placarded or not, without having authority as a hazmat carrier. Hopefully someone will speak up and validate this statement, thx.

 

You pegged it hard there grumman.