Hazardous Materials: Hazmat Loading
8 questions in the bank cover this topic. Everything below is drawn from the sources those questions cite.
Sources: 49 CFR 177.817, 49 CFR 177.834
What you need to know
177.834(a) requires securement against shifting and expressly includes relative motion between packages, so drums rubbing against each other is a violation even if the load as a whole cannot move.
Packages with valves or fittings must also be loaded to minimise damage.
Any package containing any hazardous material, not permanently attached to a motor vehicle, must be secured against shifting, including relative motion between packages, within the vehicle on which it is being transported, under conditions normally incident to transportation.
49 CFR 177.834
177.834(e) is the handbrake rule: the brake must be securely set and all other reasonable precautions taken against the vehicle moving.
A vehicle that rolls during a transfer can tear a hose or drop a drum. Plus all other reasonable precautions to prevent the vehicle moving.
No hazardous material shall be loaded into or on, or unloaded from, any motor vehicle unless the handbrake be securely set and all other reasonable precautions be taken to prevent motion of the motor vehicle during such loading or unloading process.
49 CFR 177.834
177.834(c) names Class 1 explosives, Class 3 flammable liquids, Class 4 flammable solids, Class 5 oxidizers and Division 2.1 flammable gases.
177.834(d) goes further and requires preventing people in the vicinity from smoking, lighting matches or carrying any flame.
Smoking on or about any motor vehicle while loading or unloading any Class 1 (explosive), Class 3 (flammable liquid), Class 4 (flammable solid), Class 5 (oxidizing), or Division 2.1 (flammable gas) materials is forbidden.
49 CFR 177.834
177.834(f) bars tools likely to damage a closure or adversely affect the container.
A damaged closure is how a sealed package becomes a release, and with explosives the margin for that is zero. Nor one that would otherwise adversely affect it.
No tools which are likely to damage the effectiveness of the closure of any package or other container, or likely adversely to affect such package or container, shall be used for the loading or unloading of any Class 1 (explosive) material
49 CFR 177.834
177.834(b) requires both correct loading and that the package remain in the marked position during transportation.
Orientation arrows usually mean a closure will leak if the package is inverted. Orientation markings apply throughout the journey, not just at loading.
Each package containing a hazardous material bearing package orientation markings prescribed in § 172.312 of this subchapter must be loaded on a transport vehicle or within a freight container in accordance with such markings and must remain in the correct position indicated by the markings during transportation.
49 CFR 177.834
177.834(h) covers two things: keeping the temperature from rising unduly, and leaving the contents alone between origin and billed destination.
Partial delivery en route is not permitted for most containers. There must also be no tampering or discharge between origin and the billed destination.
Reasonable care should be taken to prevent undue rise in temperature of containers and their contents during transit. There must be no tampering with such container or the contents thereof nor any discharge of the contents of any container between point of origin and point of billed destination.
49 CFR 177.834
177.817(b) requires the shipper's certification.
It is excepted for shipments carried entirely by private carriage and for bulk shipments in a carrier-supplied cargo tank, but not for hazardous waste.
An initial carrier may not accept a hazardous material offered for transportation unless the shipping paper describing the material includes a shipper's certification which meets the requirements in § 172.204 of this subchapter.
49 CFR 177.817
177.817(a) binds subsequent carriers too, with the shipper's certification under 172.204 not required at that stage.
The paperwork travels with the freight, not with the first carrier. Part 172 requires it before they may transport.
A subsequent carrier may not transport a hazardous material unless it is accompanied by a shipping paper prepared in accordance with part 172 of this subchapter
49 CFR 177.817
Check yourself
- A hazmat package in your vehicle is not permanently attached. How must you secure it?
- What is required before your hazardous material is loaded or unloaded?
- What classes in your load trigger the smoking prohibition during loading and unloading?
- What restriction applies to the tools you use when loading Class 1 explosives?
- A package in your load carries orientation markings. What do they require of you?
- What is required of the containers in your vehicle while in transit?
- What must appear on your shipping paper before an initial carrier accepts a hazmat shipment?
- Does your shipping paper requirement apply to a carrier that picks the load up part way through the journey?
Answers are in the practice test for this topic.