Transportation Safety

“Safety is our highest priority,” Secretary LaHood said. “Motorists deserve to know they are sharing the road with large trucks that are up to the safest possible standards, so they can get home alive to their families.” The latest statistics from NHTSA show that large commercial vehicles continue to show a decrease in their involvement in fatal crashes. In 2008, 4,229 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks, down 12 percent from the 4,822 deaths recorded in 2007.

NHTSA estimates that the new braking requirement will save 227 lives annually, and will also prevent 300 serious injuries. It is estimated to reduce property damage costs by over $169 million annually.

Hazardous Materials Procedures

Effective first response to an incident involving hazardous materials (hazmat) is critical to minimizing the impacts of the incident in terms of public and responder safety, environmental degradation, and costs for clean up. Well-defined hazmat response policies and procedures and responder training allow first responders to accurately identify the hazardous material and direct further response. For certain spills, equipment carried in the first response vehicles can be used to contain the spills until the fire department or hazmat contractor can arrive at the scene.

While some materials are extremely hazardous in any quantity, hazardous materials response procedures are frequently invoked when a gasoline or diesel fuel spill exceeds a legally specified amount, typically 25 gallons. Some states have adopted procedures that exempt larger spills of engine fluids (gasoline, diesel fuel, oil, anti-freeze, etc.) from hazardous materials response procedures, providing the spill has been contained on the pavement. The USDOT regulations and guidelines for hazardous materials apply only to materials being transported, not engine fluids. Quick cleanup and removal of engine fluid spills can greatly reduce incident duration time.

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How to Comply with Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations

This document provides only a general overview of the requirements for transporting hazardous materials by highway.

Video Programs:

Transportation Safety DOT Hazardous Materials Safety Training Courses

What is the National Hazardous Materials Route Registry?

The NHMRR is the national repository of both non-radioactive hazardous materials (NRHM) and Radioactive (RAM) routes which are either designated for the hazmat transportation or restricted from use by hazmat carriers. The primary means of identifying and storing a particular route in the registry is through a textual description of the route which is stored in a database. This information was collected from each State, Territory, and Indian Tribe that has assigned a routing agency. Read more...