CVSA Hazmat Safety Blitz Snags Nearly 1,200 Violations
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A five-day blitz of surprise inspections for 4,629 commercial vehicles transporting hazardous materials and dangerous goods revealed improper placarding as the top cause for violations issued, the announced.
Inspectors during a across the United States and Canada discovered 1,169 HM/DG violations, of which 598, or 51%, were out-of-service violations. Forty-five jurisdictions — 35 states and all 10 Canadian provinces — participated in the inspection campaign, but the vast majority of vehicles inspected were in the U.S. In total, CVSA inspectors examined nearly 7,300 HM/DG packages across nine hazardous categories.
The roadside checks required inspectors to safely look for leaking materials or unsecured cargo. They also examined shipping papers, placarding, marking, labeling, packaging and loading compliance.
“The transportation of HM/DG demands rigorous training and heightened compliance requirements. For motor carriers and drivers, safely transporting HM/DG is imperative to the safety of the driver, the public and the environment,” CVSA said.
What Was Examined
- 1,469 non-bulk packages/small means of containment
- 2,522 bulk cargo tank packages/large means of containment
- 447 other bulk packages/other large means of containment
The top five U.S. hazardous materials’ violations were non-bulk placarding (104), bulk package marking (99), bulk placarding (88), bulk packaging (74) and no emergency response information (70).
Inspectors also uncovered revealed 16 undeclared (without markings) packages of hazardous materials.
Inspections that uncovered any out-of-service violations — including any not related to HM/DG cargo — resulted in trucks being restricted from further travel until those violations were addressed. Inspectors issued 20 OOS orders for HM/DG package integrity (leaking) violations.
There are nine HM/DG categories that group a material’s specific chemical and physical properties, which also have different risks. For instance, Class 1 materials include ammunition, fireworks and flares. Class 2 is for gases, flammable/nonflammable oxygen and inhalation hazards. Class 4 contains flammable solids, while Class 7 encompasses radioactive materials.
June 9-13, CMV inspectors in Canada and the U.S. conducted 4,629 inspections of commercial motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials/dangerous goods as part of CVSA's unannounced HM/DG inspection and enforcement initiative. View the results. — CVSA (@CVSA)
The most common type of material classification encountered were 2,478 packages of Class 3 flammable and combustible liquids, such as fuel oil, gasoline, ethanol, methanol and some pesticides. The second-highest group was 1,239 packages of Class 2 materials.
Inspectors also discovered out-of-service loading and securement violations.
“Loading and securement requirements prevent cargo/goods/materials from moving in a manner that would cause damage to the package resulting in leaking, spilling, etc., in a commercial motor vehicle,” CVSA said. “This is especially important when it comes to the transportation of HM/DG.”
Anyone involved in transporting HM/DG cargo in the United States must comply with federal hazardous materials regulations from the under the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Commercial motor vehicles move 55% of the 2.2 billion tons of hazardous materials in the United States. U.S. motor carriers and commercial motor vehicle drivers transporting hazardous materials must comply with the federal hazardous materials regulations that regulate interstate and intrastate shipments as well those in foreign commerce.
Other findings from inspections in the U.S. were:
• 35 drivers had no copy of their Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration registration.
• 70 drivers lacked emergency response information in their vehicle about specific actions and information to address a hazmat release, containment and mitigation.
In Canada, inspectors identified 61 training certificate violations, of which 39 were OOS violations. Training certificates show a driver handling and/or transporting dangerous goods is properly trained and able to safely fulfill their duties.
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