I was in heavy traffic, a couple carlengths behind a fuel truck. On the back of the truck in bold letters was stenciled “This vehicle stops for all railroad crossings”. The truck went over 3 sets of tracks without even slowing down. It had a red placard, with the number 1203 on it. I never got close enough to see a plate number, or a business name on the truck. Otherwise, I would have called the business and asked some questions as a concerned citizen.
Which level of government does the “This vehicle stops for all railroad crossings” regulation fall under? Federal? State? Is the driver required to stop at all crossings? Does the driver still have to stop, if he’s driving an empty truck, with no #1203 in it?
I know it’s a gasoline tanker…I’d think the SDDOT would be pretty interested and any LEO that saw it would want to have a chat with the driver. THe crossings weren’t marked “EXEMPT”, were they?
Now this is coming from an OTR Driver. There are certain requirements that are needed to force a driver to stop at a RR crossing with a Tanker on. Most Gas Tankers are Forever marked with 1203 Class 3 Hazmat Placards on them anyway. Same with Propane tanks will have a 1075 on them. Now if the Tanker in Question had just been released from a Tank Wash he would have been EMPTY with no Vapor and therefore not subject to the Stop at the RR Corssing Requirements. Also another reason he might not have stopped is this he could have been empty and on his way back to the rack to reload and did not have a Reportable Quantity of Gasoline on that would have required the stop at the tracks also.
See blowing the crossing with Hazmat since 9/11 is an Automatic 6 Month UNPAID Vacation from your job. That and it also will cost your YOUR HAZ-MAT AND ANY AND ALL TWIC CARD you have. Without those forget about getting a job as an OTR Driver anymore.
So, that does sound like he could forego stopping, if the truck was basically empty?
The tracks in question are 2 short branh lines to industry that see a train a day, and the BNSF main through town, that probably sees a dozen trains a day.
I would have to say that it is pretty unusual for such a truck not to stop or at least slow down considerably. I have never observed such a happening. I don’t doubt you. I just feel that is highly unusual.
I can think of a few exempt crossings here in Michigan, but I’m not sure what the rules are for hazmat carriers are when they are empty. I looked at the Michigan Vehicle Code and came up empty handed so I suspect there may be federal regulations that prevail.
I would think exempt crossings would be those with VERY little train traffic, and the train crew would be required to stop and flag the crossing. An exempt sign would give hazmat carriers the option of not stopping (even when loaded), and would prevent a lot of rear end collisions in some situations.
Ed; Is of course correct on his information about the Tank Wash; BUT if the tanker is infact clean, with no residual vapor, then the driver MUST remove or cover the relevant placard for the product previously in the trailer. Otherwise, he (the driver) is potentially fineable for displayng an irrelevant placcard on his vehicle.
The thought was, that by displaying an irrelevant placard the driver would cause an invalid emergency response; if involved in an accident, and unable to communicate with first responders who would read the information displayed on the placarded trailer; and then tailor their response accordingly. The previous is a simplification of what could be a potentially escalated situation [with any number of outcomes].
This is the portion, I think that is somewhat eroneous:
This accident was March 15,1999 and occurred at a crossing at Bournbonaise,Ill. When a flat bed truck driver named John Stokes saw an approaching headlight,[ while he was on the scale weighing out at a Mini-Mill (Steel)] anyway he told the authorities he th
Gas tankers dont get washed out normally , if it was repaired and had waste matter it would be rinsed out with gas at the loading site. Those terminals have waste tanks for that. If that tanker had been cleaned for some reason then the placards will be removed before transporting. The company that I was leased to would fire the driver if caught failing to stop at an active RR crossing and his insurance company would cancel his insurance. As for an empty tanker verses a loaded tanker, a lit match can dropped in a can of gas but don`t try dropping one in an empty gas can.
Sorry Stuff I normally hauled would EAT you not go BANG. Now I did haul quite a few loiads that would have gone BOOM and I mean BOOM. Think 1.1 1.2 Explosives now those will get the pucker factor way up.
Amen. It’s the vapor, not the liquid that burns. A full tank has little, if any, room for vapor.
My high school science teacher/principal was told a class that you could sit on top a full tank and drop lighted matches into it, and they would go out [you would have to avoid the vapor just above the opening], but if you dropped one inside an empty tank, uh-oh!
I was wondering about washing a tank out. I know that vans that carried some hazardous loads had to be washed out before they could be loaded with foodstuffs; once we even washed a van out at our plant after I unloaded it because whoever loaded one of the first two pallets punctured two one-gallon bottles of a mildly corrosive mixture (when he arrived, the driver told me he had a brown liquid dripping out [all the way from the Bay Area to Salt Lake]; I called Security (not an emergency call) stated the problem, and said that I wanted an ERT man to come out to the dock where I would unload the truck; by the time I got to the mishandled pallet, every ERT in the plant was waiting for me to get to the pallet(s).
Another time, a shipment of sulfuric in acid in drums from near Phoenix was delayed because the driver noticed liquid dripping out near the Utah line. He went back to the originator, who unloaded the shipment–and found a drum sitting on a nail in the pallet (careless palelt builder).
Definitely, when you handle any hazardous material in public, you abide by the rules that protect you and everybody else who may be involved.
True, it is the vapor that explodes, but liquid gasoline will carry fire once exposed to the atmosphere to form vapor…
If a tanker-truck is going to be hit by a train, I’d rather it be an empty tank than a full one! One big KABOOM is somewhat preferable to the horror of a flowing lake of fire engulfing my car as I sit dutifully at the crossing light/gates!
Why would anyone ship wet hay? It certainly would be a spontaneous combustion hazard, especially if it is not exposed to a good air flow. Would it not cost more, per pound of hay, to ship than dry hay?
Be amazed what gets Shipped and when. Why is hay sometimes shipped wet. Very Simple if they are going to make a Pellet out of it you do not care if it is wet or Dry. Also Dry hay you will CUBE OUT before you Max out with about anytrailer there is out there. Also Wet Hay alot of it is going to Composters for Fertilizer and most of it comes from Horse Farms and Racetracks. Thats right the Moisture in it alot of the time is URINE. They also use it to Grow MUSHROOMS and it grows them like you would not believe.
