This federal law was issued because if any slight error happens, or if an accident takes place, it can lead to life risks, property damages, as well as environmental disasters.
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the department that is responsible for the regulations for hazmat load transportation. Thereupon, the illegal dumping of hazmat loads is highly prohibited, as well truck drivers shall pay attention not to spill the loads.
We all know that in the last decade the trucking industry has expanded a lot, but how many of you actually know how many shipments of hazardous materials are hauled on a daily basis?
I do believe that you will be amazed when I tell you that in fact trucking companies in the USA are transporting more than 500.000 hazardous shipments every single day.
What will amaze you even more, is that around 50% of those loads are in fact corrosive and flammable, which gives you a crystal clear picture of the reason why there are so many rules, regulations, and requirements for hazmat transportation.
Of course, the biggest responsibility lays in the approach of trucking companies, or more precisely in the approach, experience, and training of truck drivers. Trucking companies are aware of the fact that the truck drivers that they are hiring must have the adequate abilities altogether with a Class A CDL and the needed hazmat endorsements.
So, when a customers wants to hire a trucking company for transportation of hazmat loads, they are in general looking for:
- Insurance;
- Safety;
- Licensing;
- On-time delivery;
These points are of a great importance, because the hazmat carriers are required to meet stricter criteria when it comes to safety, then let’s say the conventional load carriers. All the safety rules are being regulated by OSHA. OSHA as the main federal agency is responsible for over-the-road operation.
So, all of you hazmat carriers that are out there, please comply with the rules and regulations that apply to hazardous load transportation, and keep everyone on the road safe and sound!
6. Livestock Transportation
Unlike before, livestock nowadays is mostly transported by trucks. The trucking industry in the past decades has developed specialized trailers that allow safe transportation of animals, which is commonly known as cattle transportation.
These days all people that are part of the trucking industry can proudly say that thanks to livestock transportation development they have managed to create interconnected road system, in remote as well as in local areas.
Later on, the most important factor that contributes in a great measure to the animal safety during transportation, is picking the right size and design of the trailer. The trailer must be suitable, that is to say, compatible with the number of animals that need to be transported.
Livestock transportation is more complex than it might seem at first sight. Still, the hardest part of the job goes to truck drivers, they have to care about the animals that they are transporting. Truck drivers should bring the animals to the final destination without any injury.
Yet, you as a truck driver should be aware that there are different rules and regulations for different types of animals.
For example, if you are assigned to perform transportation of bobby calves then you should know that the trailer should have a solid protection from the wind, also they should be fed in a range of 6 hours.
When it comes to the specification of cattle trailers I must say that have evolved into lightweight triple axle units.
One more thing that I would like to mention is that trucking companies are allowed to transport only healthy animals.
What makes livestock transportation a complex process is due to all the paperwork that truck drivers must fulfill. There are a lot of legal liabilities as well as restrictions that imply to livestock transportation.
On the other hand, if an accident happens the truck driver will have to call a veterinarian straight away. If we take an overlook on livestock transportation we can notice that experienced truck drivers are the only ones that can contribute to the successful, safe and on-time animal delivery.
7. Container and Intermodal Transportation
The container and intermodal specialized types of load transportation are interconnected. Often these two types of specialized transportation are considered to be a single one.
Let’s make it simple. We all know that container transportation is one of the safest ways of specialized transportation, and that is why it started experiencing fast development. By choosing this type of specialized transportation many customers have forgot what damage and loss of cargo look like.
Container and intermodal specialized transportation besides being one of the safest ways of load transportation, nowadays thanks to the continual developments that have been made, it has become as well the fastest way of load transportation.
If we take a closer look on the overall process of intermodal specialized transportation, we can see that it is comprised of cargo transportation via trucks, ships, as well as via freight trains. Since the intermodal containers are made of steel and have a hard construction, they can handle the whole process of transportation without any damage.
However, the concept of this type of intermodal specialized transportation is not new in the trucking industry. The very beginnings of intermodal transportation saw the light back in the 18th century. This type of specialized transportation has completely revolutionized the load transportation.
Since its very beginnings, USA has started taking intermodal container transportation for serious. These days we can see that intermodal specialized transportation has developed new door to door services. This way there is an easier handling between the modal systems that this specialized transportation is using.
Why is intermodal specialized transportation an attractive way of moving goods?
Intermodal transportation is an attractive way of moving goods because of many reasons, one of those reasons is that this specialized transportation type is environmentally friendly.
