Hi guys, i've read some hazmat threads and still cant understand if i did right refusing to take a 30lbs flamable package un1197 which had placards on it, my dispatch told me its ok to take it but my understanding is that if its placarded i need an endorsement so i declined the load. I had an unpleasant talk with my company owner, they put me on hold not giving me any loads which is childish, i just want to understand whether i was right or wrong, thanks again
It's an unfortunate situation, but you were dead wrong.
It's certainly best if you are well educated in HAZMAT procedures, rather than relying on dispatchers, shippers and company owners, since they might be wrong and it is you who are ultimately responsible for what you haul. Having said that, unless you know something for sure, when you have that many different people telling you it's OK to haul something, it probably is.
This is precisely why I strongly advocate that drivers study the HAZMAT section of the CDL manual and take as many online practice tests as necessary, even if they don't want a CDL or a HAZMAT endorsement. Knowledge is power, and in this case knowledge is money, would have prevented you from losing a load and being put on the Moron Van Driver List at your carrier.
Fortunately, ignorance is easily fixable. It's one of the best things about being ignorant, it affords you the opportunity to learn more about your job.
btw i told them that if shipper removes placards i would take it but they told me consignee requires placards on delivery
As you will see below, it's quite illegal to remove the placard labels from the packaging of any material that is listed on the Table of Hazardous Materials, regardless of whether it requires vehicle placarding and a HAZMAT endorsement, and then transport it.
UN 1197 is Class 3 Flammable, which is a Table 2 hazardous material, and only requires placarding on the vehicle and a CDL with a HAZMAT endorsement if the quantity is is 1001 pounds or more.
This page (
DOT Hazmat Placard Table 1 and Table 2) lists the Table 1 and Table 2 hazardous materials. Anything on Table 2 can be hauled by someone without a HAZMAT endorsement as long as it's 1000 pounds or less.
Anything on Table 1, regardless of quantity, must be placarded and the driver must have a HAZMAT endorsement.
The little diamond-shaped, placard-looking labels on the sides of the packaging is not what determines whether the vehicle itself needs to be placarded (which are the large diamond-shaped cards) and you need an endorsement. The reason the little placards are on there is because the material itself (in this case, liquid extracts or flavorings) is listed on the Table of Hazardous Materials, and in certain quantities (more than 1000 pounds) is actually hazardous to people or the environment, but in less quantities it's not hazardous.
Each individual 30 pound package must be labeled with the Hazard Class, because multiple individual packages may find their way into a pallet and onto a vehicle and end up weighing more than 1000 pounds, which requires placarding and an endorsement. Imagine if the placard-looking labels were removed from that 30 pound container, and then a week later that container was placed on a pallet along with 980 pounds of UN 1325, which is also not required to be placarded because it's less than 1001 pounds. But combined they are. Someone could add up the weight of all of the properly labeled hazardous material, 980 pounds, and think they don't need an endorsement to haul it, because that 30 pound container is void of HAZMAT labels. Yet those 30 pounds are also hazardous, making the total weight 1010 pounds, which requires placarding and an endorsement.
The other way to look at it is, that 30 pound container has HAZMAT diamonds on it not because it requires an endorsement, but because it WOULD require an endorsement if the load weighed more, and somewhere either before you picked it up or after you delivered it, it just might.
For this reason, as required by 49 CFR Part 173 (US Code of Federal Regulations, part 173) it is the shipper's responsibility to first identify whether a material meets the definition of "Hazardous Material." Doesn't matter what it weighs, all that matters is whether or not it's on the Table of Hazardous Materials, and if it is, the next step is properly package and mark the packaging with correct HAZMAT warning label (the little placards).
If you pick up a single 5-gallon bucket of paint, it may have a little HAZMAT label on the bucket. But since it's one bucket that weighs 50 pounds it doesn't require placards on the vehicle. However, if you pick up 24 of those buckets, it'll weight 1200 pounds and the load will need to be placarded. But the little placard labels have to be on the bucket no matter how many buckets you are picking up.
Get the CDL Manual from your state (probably a downloadable PDF file of it) and pretend you're going to get a HAZMAT endorsement. It wouldn't hurt to read the entire thing, actually. But go over the HAZMAT stuff in there, and then you can go online and take practice tests like crazy. Then you'll know. You'll know to not let some ignorance shipping clerk try to put something on your van that you can't haul.
