Chemical plackard?

D

Derekringersr

New member
So do you guy have achemical plackard on the side of your vans/trailers. I was told by my insurance company that if I carry any corrosive/explosive chemicals in my van that I must put a sign on a minimum of 2 sides of the vehicle. Have you guys heard of this or is it just my insurance policy??
 
You need to check with the DOT in your area. The DOT officer I spoke with, in Indiana, said I only need one if carrying more than 1,000lbs.
 
depends on what you carry and how much, but Bunn is right check your local laws. and be careful of your source even though you speak to a law officer all of them are not always rite (go figure)
 
Cajun is correct but also besides the CDL, placards and over 1000 pounds you would also need the X endorsement for hazardous materials.

The vehicle containing the chemicals, truck, trailer, etc... must have placards on all 4 sides as per DOT regulations or you can get a warning/fine.

I just got my CDL for my Big Bucket Truck so we have to know a little about a lot of other stuff. My Bucket Truck is over 26,000 pounds so you have to have a CDL to drive it legally.
 
HMMMM, So if we have a 200 gallon tank mixed with HC and water, it is still a HC compound correct?? So at 5 pounds a gallon we are carrying 1000 pounds of HC!!! Hopefully they are talking about RAW material!!! Something to think about!!! I bought a sticker anyways just to be on the safe side!!!
 
That would be a discussion I would not like to have with a police officer or state trooper on the side of the road.

The placards are Class 8 1791 Corrosive.

I have a 125 gallon capacity tank and I have placards on all 4 sides of it as it is an open trailer and was told that is ok since you can see all the placards.

I asked why I should have the placards since I do not plan on having 100 gallons in the tank and they told me that the capacity of the tank is 125 gallons and since the Sodium Hypochlorite (SC) is a little heavier than water then that would mean that if the tank was full then it would be heavier than the 1000 pound limit and I would need placards.

They told me it is better to be safe than sorry and keep the paperwork with me in the truck so I can prove to them if I was stopped how much I purchased and they can verify by looking into the tank.

I would hate to be pulled over or in an accident with more than 102 gallons of bleach without the placards, paperwork, CDL with X endorsement (Hazardous Cargo) because the fines would be just the start of your problems.
 
thats something you don't see on this board much, talking about hauling large amounts of liquid..(chemicals) being the ups or down of doing this...no one has mentioned if you carry over a certain amount of liquid you need a tanker endorsement...any one care to comment on this subject?
 
OK, one thing you guys are overlooking. If you are carrying over 1000 lbs of a particular chemical, and you put those DOT placards on your rig, you now must have a CDL in order to drive that vehicle. I believe its nationwide for hazardous materials. Doesn't matter if its your 1 ton pickup, you still need a CDL to tote around hazardous materials. Also, lets not forget the required spill kit and manifests. PITA. Just for clarification I think its 1000 gallons, not lbs, but check your local laws to be sure.
 
Just re-checked the Minnesota DOT site and here's our loophole:
Materials of Trade
A material of trade (MOT) is a hazardous material carried on a motor vehicle:
◆ For the purpose of protecting the health or safety of the vehicle
operator or passengers.
◆ To support the operation or maintenance of a vehicle.
◆ By a private carrier in direct support of a principal business that is
not transportation.
The MOT rule provides exceptions from some of the hazardous materials
communications and packaging requirements for persons that transport small
amounts of hazardous materials that are used by the transporter in his/her
business. Certain classes or divisions of hazardous materials are excluded from
the MOT exceptions. Consult 49 CFR part 173.6 for details.
Click to expand...

Since the chemicals we're using are materials of trade, we get a pass. I actually bought the placards for my box truck, but realized that if I put them on the truck, It's like a big "pull me over" sign for the commercial division of our highway patrol.
 
Big Mike said:
Just for clarification I think its 1000 gallons, not lbs, but check your local laws to be sure.
Click to expand...

It is 1000 pounds, not gallons because there are hazardous cargo that is in dry form, not all are liquids, thus the 1000 pounds. That is what the state trooper told me when I was asking him a lot of questions about this.
 
I went to the Minnesota DOT page and found some good info. You need to be very careful, a limit is there but less weight.

Here is the info:

MOT Weight Limits
No more than 200 kg (440 pounds) aggregate gross weight of MOT may be transported on a single vehicle (e.g., a tow truck driver could carry a 150 pound cylinder of division 2.1 acetylene and a 150 pound cylinder of 2.2 oxygen, two 8 gallon cans of gasoline weighing 60 pounds each and 20 pound battery and use the MOT exception).

Here is where all the MOT (Materials Of Trade) comes from:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/cvo/factsheets/hm200mot.pdf



Since the Bleach weighs around 9.8 pounds per gallon, that is less than a 55 gallon drum, actually only 45 gallons.

I would go in person and make sure that there were no changes to the regulations so you are within the legal limits.
 
Christopher said:
It is 1000 pounds, not gallons because there are hazardous cargo that is in dry form, not all are liquids, thus the 1000 pounds. That is what the state trooper told me when I was asking him a lot of questions about this.
Click to expand...

I meant pounds, thanks for catching that.
 
I can tell you if you are going to get a hazardous materials endorsement you better start the process now. They have to perform a backgroud check and it takes a while to get it. That is the way it is in Florida anyhow. One thing I will tell you is that if you do have placards on your trailer or tank, make sure you come to a complete stop at all RR crossings. Not a rolling stop. Don't even take a chance. Count to 5 then continue. If you are pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a RR crossing it is so long license. It will be suspended. They are sticklers for the rules down here. Trust me, I know this happens I used to work for a freight company and saw it many times. I have seen many people loose there license and jobs over this. If it were me and I had purchased 50 gallons of sh and filled the rest with water (at least 125 gallon tank) I would placard it. It would be hard to prove what exactly was in the tank if you have more than just sh in there which most people hauling around that much product do. That is just not something I would want to be caught up in. Better safe than sorry. There are many laws about parking and paper work and someone staying within so many feet of the vehicle when it is parked. I would go ahead and study the book and take the test for the endorsment if it were me, just to be safe. One more thing, If you have enough chemical to placard then you better have a bill of lading with the un number, class, packing group, and emergency contact info. I am not sure how it would work if you have many different chemicals in a mix, but I would find out in my state if I hauled it around. That is one thing I am not sure about with water recovery systems. There is such a mixture with the recovery water that I don't know what you would do. I am not really sure how recovery systems work though.
 
Good post Spencer, glad to see someone else out there knows about this stuff.

Good graphics on your van, I bet you get a lot of calls on it, it is eye-catching.

I know what you mean about the chems. There are guys out there hauling around a lot of chems and did not check with the DOT or state troopers to see if that was legal, what they need to do to do that legally and how to get the CDL so that they can keep doing what they are doing.

Either they did not have a clue or just don't care.

You have to think about it and have some common sense, it is a large amount of chemicals, on the bigger tanks they have placards, why?????????

Why not ask a driver of one of the tanker trucks or tote trucks why they have placards on the truck or trailer and they will tell you all about it.

I have told this to a lot of people and a lot of them think that either I am lying to them or just trying to make their job harder to do.

I am trying to open their eyes about the DOT Regulations and how serious it really is and what can happen if they are caught or in an accident.
 
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