hazmat placard rule

I would guess the driver picking up the trailer did not do a PTI on the trailer. He should of notice the 4 placards on the trailer and the lack of hazmat info on the BOL. any difference and he should have been back inside to the shipper and called his dispatch prior to leaving the shippers yard. Guess he learned a lesson... PTI...

 

What about keeping a few extra placards of various designations stowed away under the bunk? I have been glad to have a replacement a few times when heavy rain disintegrated one of my placards.

I heard somewhere it's illegal to carry spares when the numbers don't match the placards on the tank. I think it's BS but I really don't know. I would rather have an extra one in case I need it. You can't always find the right placard at a T/S.

 

While it is true by law that the shipper is responsible for making sure the load has placards supplied, it doesn't always happen that way. The company I used to work for hauled certain HAZMAT out of a plant outside of Cedar City, UT.

When the regular "boss" was around, we always had the proper placards. But when he went on vacation, or took a day off, the rocket scientist that replaced him, used to try to get out of giving us placards.

"Well sorry, Charlie, but this trailer isn't moving off your property until I have the proper placards in place. Perhaps you would like me to talk to your safety department?"

His big problem? He would forget to bring the placards out of the shipping office, and this meant he would have to go all the way back inside to get them, and then come all the way back out to give them to me.

WHAT A DORK!

 

I got into it with our safety department over placards on trailers at the dock. We had just emptied out a trailer that still had placards on it. Perhaps it had been five minutes.

Mr. Bigshot comes out walking the dock, looking for something to raise hell about and saw the empty trailer with placards on it. He started raising all kinds of crap about it.

So I told him he was welcome to go outside and pull the placards off, himself. His reply: "I would, but you would not learn anything from this if I did."

WHAT A DORK!

I know the placards should have come off, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Now, as far as emergency responders knowing what is on the dock. This is true if they know that a business is engaged in manufacturing and/or shipping just certain things. But when you get to an LTL dock, you are going to have all kinds of mixed freight.

And as was pointed out in another post, a lot of dock workers haven't a clue about HAZMAT. So you may have any type of mixture sitting next to another on an LTL dock.

Even the dock manager probably won't have his finger on everything that is on there. So it really does make it tough on first responders when there is a HAZMAT problem at an LTL dock.

 

Almost all of the regulations for hazmat can be found in CFR49 parts 100-177. I have the book because it was a requirement for a class I took at the college. In there it will tell you that the placards are required when the materials meet the standards in the §172-101 table.

If placards are required then they are to be attach to the trailer in the specfic locations and are to stay ther until the material is NOT there. Not 5 minutes or when you get a chance to remove them but as soon as the trailer is unloaded. THAT should be a priority. A fire could start in just a couple of minutes and then the priority would be to make sure the people are safe. Could you imagine the fire depeartment holding up putting the fire out because they have to deal with a trailer that's maked with hazmat and there's nothing in it?

So I'm sorry Big Don you should have had more than just a remark by Mr. Big Shot. It sounds like your whole place of work needs more training and you need to be more tactful when dealing with higher ups. Especially when you get into it with the safety department when you clearly state you were wrong. It's everyone's job to teach safety.

 

OK, I agree that I screwed up. But this guy is such a pain in the butt. Anyhow, I humbly stand corrected.

 

It's good of you to admit your mistake. That's precisely the attitude we all need to show the new comers. I agree that some bosses are jerks but once in awhile they do get things right.

 

I was told by a Safety Person if its a Tanker they stay on till its purged are cleaned out.

 

Agreed and you'll find them once in awhile. All you can do is hope they will not interfere with what you'll be doing.