Hazmat routes

The highlighted route in a truckers atlas are designated. Also, follow the signs! Most interstates that go into a city are restricted. You will have to use the bypasses. No tunnels.... You can not roll a hazmat thru a tunnel

 

The law states that you carrier is responsible to train the drivers which include the routing of the shipments. You can find this and more in the CFR 49 parts 100 to 177 Subpart A- General information and Regulations
§117.800 specifically §117.816. If you're new to the route kindly show him this book and ask for help. You don't want to collapse a bridge or go down a street with signs all over and the public gets upset and makes some calls.

 

Look up the restricted routes in the front of your Rand McNalley Atlas! Thats the easiest.
Second ask your company if they have a perferred route. Use a routing program such as PC Miler. (boot leg is a lot cheaer!)

But I just googled hazmat routing aand I have a headache looking throught all that crapola! I got single states and towns and cities but I couldn't find a full national map EXCEPT at the FNCSA site which had a link that you fill out and get a copy sent to you but even that was suspect!

Just keep looking but the Rand will give you what you need and the statement that none was allowed through tunnels isn't completely a true statement. Depending on packaging and amounts and product is when hazardous materials are restricted from tunnels. You can take a load of flammable through a tunnel if packaged in 1 to 500 gallon totes or a tanker but it all depends on where and who is setting the rule! corrosives in a tank over totes is another issue! The shipper of the material will let you know the restrictions and so should the carrier or your company!

If you do buy a routing software program don't spend hundreds of dollars for it but if you do keep the receipt and put it on your taxes company driver it doesn't matter as you're using it in the line of work!

 

Not true. I can take 40 drums of corrosive 8 or flammable 3 weighing 20,000 lbs through the tunnels of the Pa Pike but I cannot take one empty tote weighing 100 lbs through those same tunnels if the tote last contained hazmat and has an ID number. Those tunnels only have certain restrictions - bulk packaging and certain hazmat like inhalation hazard or dangerous when wet in any quantity. The Tunnel on I95 in Baltimore prohibits hazmat altogether even if I'm not placarded as does the Chesapeake bridge/tunnel in Va. Cities like Cleveland, Oh restrict hazmat through the city but I was allowed to run that route because I was local and needed to in order to access our terminal when I ran there years ago. I495 - the beltway restricts hazmat vehicles to the two right lanes but often times I need the left lane to exit.

Your best bet is to talk to other drivers at your company who run those lanes and pay attention to the signs. I understand it's better safe than sorry, but I would hate to see a driver run Pa 31 around the Somerset tunnel on the Pike when they did not have to.