Hazmat Transportation
“Hazmat Transportation” is a rather wide-reaching topic. However, there are three main areas all organizations involved in transporting hazardous materials must pay specific attention to: Hazmat Training, Preparing to Transport, and Transporting Hazardous Materials. Each of these areas is critical to the safety and success of every hazardous materials load.
To help safeguard everyone involved, the DOT has developed special preparation, transportation, and handling requirements known as the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).
What You Need to Know
The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) require that hazmat employees be trained, tested, and certified regarding the parts of the regulations that pertain to their job functions.
It’s an employer’s responsibility to determine which specific parts of the HMR apply, to make sure the hazardous material training focuses on those specific areas and to ensure employees receive the DOT hazmat training they need.
The HMR established these categories of hazardous material training:
- General Awareness/Familiarization Training
- Function-Specific Training
- Safety Training
- Security Awareness Training
- In-Depth Security Training
- Modal-Specific (Driver) Training
For more detailed information on the hazardous materials training requirements, see 49 CFR, part 172, Subpart H and 49 CFR 177.816.
Requirements in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) apply to anyone who prepares or offers a hazardous material for transportation in commerce. Pre-transportation functions include, but are not limited to:
- Determining the hazard class of a hazardous material
- Selecting hazmat packaging
- Filling a hazmat package
- Marking or labeling a hazmat package
- Preparing a shipping paper
- Providing and maintaining emergency response information
- Reviewing a shipping paper to verify compliance
- Certifying that a hazardous material is in proper condition for transport
- Loading, blocking, and bracing hazmat packages
- Segregating a hazardous materials package
- Selecting, providing, or affixing hazmat placards
In most situations, transportation begins when a carrier takes physical possession of the hazardous material for the purpose of transporting it in commerce and continues until it is delivered to its destination.
Transportation of a hazardous material in commerce includes the following:
- Movement
- Loading
- Unloading
- Storage during transport
Hazmat transporters also need to be aware of Hours of Service regulations. Visit our Hours of Service compliance topic page for more information.