Hazardous Materials Transportation

The transportation of hazardous materials is vital to our modern world. Thanks to hazmat, we have modern medicine, a robust food supply, technological advances like microchips, cleaning products to kill bacteria and viruses that can make us sick, and so much more.


As Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) professionals, what we do saves lives. We help families stay whole and healthy with safe work practices, we help our environment remain clean and resilient by keeping materials safe during transportation, and we help improve the way of life for millions by safely manufacturing, storing, transporting, and disposing of the chemicals that fuel our modern world. Nearly every aspect of our lives today owes at least part of its existence to hazmat, so we can never be rid of it. Therefore, we must learn to manage it safely and always do better than we did yesterday. We must learn from our mistakes and failures, build on our achievements, and always be willing to learn more.


This book is meant to serve as a comprehensive introduction to both graduate and undergraduate EHS students preparing to embark on this exciting and important career, as well as a resource for EHS professionals already doing this work. Transportation is one of the most vulnerable points in the hazmat supply chain, but it's often treated as an afterthought. It's time we give it the attention it deserves and that we seek out the best, most effective ways to move hazmat safely, efficiently, and affordably.


We've taken a complex topic and made it approachable and easy to understand with everyday language. This highly usable guide will help you to confidently classify and name hazmat; select, assemble, fill, and close packagings; mark, label, and placard packages; fill out shipping papers and supply emergency response information; offer placards to drivers; and load and unload motor vehicles and rail cars. We cover the DOT's administrative requirements like training and documentation, incident reporting, written security plans, registration triggers and more. You'll even learn how to take advantage of money- and time-saving exceptions. And we point out common pitfalls to avoid so you'll stay in compliance and avoid fines and penalties.


This is the only resource you'll need outside the Code of Federal Regulations to expertly perform your hazmat functions. The guide is chock full of visual aids such as graphs, charts, examples, tables, excerpts from the regulations, and real-life photos to demonstrate and support the content. Each section includes regulatory references to help you easily locate source information and research further details when desired. It's also well annotated with additional background information to give you everything you'll need to be a successful hazmat shipper.


I wish you great success on your journey into the ever-changing, never boring world of hazardous materials.