Hazmat on city P&D loads--how bad of risk?

Going over more Hazmat in our training program for line haul and P&D. Curious what the situation is with other LTL carriers in general. Whatever we accept from the shipper we become responsible for securing, placarding, etc. Our trainer assured us that we will get to know our customers and what they typically ship so most of it is repetitious. If we have any concerns call the company 800 chemical line. From the loading dock I was mainly seeing vehicle batteries, drums or buckets of chemicals or fuel, and various corrosives such as acids, etc. For deliveries most of the truck is loaded for us drivers and it can be difficult to get back far enough in through the freight to inspect every pallet.

My concern is there are hefty fines possible for violations. How often is a P&D truck stopped to check Hazmat loads when placarded? Are the typical fines toward the max end ($78K?) or more often a few hundred if no spill or accident and just placard wrong or insufficient bracing, etc. Around the terminal here I have not heard one story yet of HM nightmare. Is this a rare thing or I just haven't heard it the worst yet? LOL!

 

I haven’t been hassled too much in my time doin P&D with hazmat. Typically the main thing they look for is if your BOL is correct with the placard you are displaying. Also if the hazmat bill is in proper order as far a product, un #, class and all that. I have heard of dot having the driver opening up the trailer and peeking in to make sure it was secure. Just double check your placards against the bill, brace your hazmat and stop at all RR crossings and you’ll be alright. Don’t stack hazmat and make sure you don’t have any poison with anything consumable in the trailer.

 

Sounds good, thanks!

Arr they usually heavy on the fines or reasonable if not egregious? I don’t plan to be sloppy but would like to be aware of the actual risk I am assuming. Thx.

 

I don’t do P&D but linehaul. I had my first Hazmat inspection on turnpike in Indiana about a month ago.

State trooper pulled me over right before service plaza. He specifically said I did nothing wrong and he is doing Hazmat inspection.


He checked for the following:
License
Medical Card
Truck and Trailer registration
ERG
Insurance
Hazmat insurance ( or hazmat registration forgot what it was)
BOL
Hazmat BOL
Extra set of Paperlogs
Instruction manual for ELD
And I think instructions how to send HOS to law enforcement through email or Bluetooth.

Then he told me to send my HOS to his computer through my ELD. He then asked me to step outside, break the seal and open the trailer door while everything is being recorded ( him and another trooper were parked directly behind me). He actually went inside the trailer and checked if freight was secured.

( I might have missed something)

He got me for my tandems being too far back. Just a warning but still goes on my record and I get points. So yea make sure you have everything in order.

 

Oh yep. Excellent point. Also if you’re on a forklift and you need to switch out your propane tank, don’t do it in the trailer. Especially the hazmat trailer.

OHSA fines Saia $119k after explosion at carrier’s St. Louis facility

 

You’ll be fine. The DOT tends to get really excited when they see inhalation hazard placards. I’ve been randomly pulled over many times just to ask where I was going and how I’m going to get there.

 

The correct answer to this OP by the way, is always “to your moms house”. Take it from us seasoned vets.

 

Just make sure you’re placard, have your hazmat strapped, and you’ll probably never be bothered- speaking for Florida

 

Thx for the great details. Securement is something I think I’ll need to be vigilant about after seeing conditions on the dock. Perhaps the city drivers secure their hazmat loads themselves (ourselves) but I never saw forklift guys doing that specifically.