While driving, how many times have you seen signs in the trucks like: "hazardous material", "flammable", "poison", or "toxic"? Probably several times a day. This is because every day hundreds of trucks transport these types of materials that are very dangerous for people, known as "hazardous materials". The transportation of these materials is very complicated and has to be very well supervised and regulated by the US's Department of Transportation (DOT). Other organizations like Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) formulate issues and revise the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR). It is very important to know some definitions before discussing about this interesting subject.
A hazardous material is a substance that has been classified by the Secretary of Transportation to be able to pose a risk to health, safety, and property when it is being transported. A hazmat (short version for hazardous material) employee is a person who is employed to transport these materials safely. These employees can be an owner-operator of a motor vehicle which transports hazmat, or a person who loads, unloads, or handles hazmat. The hazmat employer is a person who makes one or more of its employees handle these materials. The employees transport hazmat in commerce, cause hazmat to be transported or shipped in commerce, or represent, mark, certify, sell, offer, recondition, test, repair or modify packages to be qualified to transport hazmat. There are specific HMR requirements for the safe transportation of hazmat by rail car, aircraft, vessel and motor vehicle. These apply to every person who drives, or plans functions related to the transportation of hazardous materials such as assuring the compliance of the regulations.
Some basic requirements to haul these products involve a basic training. Before an employee begins handling hazmat, s/he needs to be provided with a basic training in the performance of that function; this applies even if a new regulation is created or an existing changed, that person must be taught the latest requirements. There is also an identification of hazardous materials. They are classified in: products that can ignite a fire, materials that are likely to cause a dangerous production of heat, create flammable or poisonous gases, create corrosive materials, or that are likely to make a flammable mixture with the air in the transport vehicle. The packaging of the products is the first line of defense in ensuring that the material does not explode during transportation and it is very important to contact the dispatcher in case of an emergency.
All the drivers that work hauling hazardous materials are trained to know what to do in case of an emergency on the road. This a very dangerous job, but it is also is very well paid. If you are trying to get a new truck driving job and you have experience transporting hazardous materials, this is a very good skill to have. A trucking company will prefer to hire a person with this kind of experience; they know that you have all the requirements you need and extra training that can help in the operations of a trucking company.