hazmat loads
 

well, today is another hazmat load and another lesson learned. We picked up a H/M load in fontana CA and headed up the i-15. got pulled into the weight scales and red lighted. DOT MAN said why don't' you have a padlock on that trailer. hmmm we got two seals one plastic and a cylinder seal on the trailer. Luckily he was a nice man and after going over all our papers ,logs, permits, he just gave us a warning ticket and let us lock our trailer with a pad lock. he said that if he gave us a ticket it would cost us around $2,000.00 so we are REAL GLAD he let us off. now my question to you experts is .... where does it say we have to have a pad-lock on our trailer. I have looked and can not find it. We have found that everyday is a new learning experience .... My wife got a little discouraged today though because every time we get pulled in to DOT she is the driver.

I can sympathize with the wife.
NOT that I'm wishing you a "next time" but if it occurs and a ticket, warning is written, ask them to show you where it states the infraction, page & paragraph. That should be noted on the ticket anyway.
I know its good to get out of there with "just a warning"...but is it justified or just harassment. With who & where would the key{s} be kept?

Posters
 

It's California! Remember, there are the rules for the 47 contiguous United States, then the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia. BOL

I don't recall anything in the regulations which requires a padlock on a hazmat load. Now if it is ammunition or some other type of explosives, additional precautions should usually be taken to safeguard the shipment. Any time a DOT officer wants to cite me for an infringement, I want to see the regulation. He cannot legally write the ticket unless there is a regulation or law that has been broken. Most will pull out their little book and note the regulation on the ticket whether it is a warning or not. He might have just been practicing. It could also just be a California law.

I don't remember anything in the regs about a padlock either....

I do know that for many companies out there, it's a company policy that all trailers hazmat or not are supposed to have a padlock. I don't know if you've ever said who you run for, but if the DOT officer was accustomed to seeing your company trailers locked before, he may have noticed the abnormality... but unless it's CA state law, I can't see him writing a ticket for it.

This is part of the reason I finally dropped my Hazmat endorsement :wink:

I am interested in this warning ticket. I have never known an California Police Agency to issue warning tickets. They are always verbal.

Also, what was the section he cited on this warning ticket?

Thanks!

I took a look at the copies that the DOT Officer gave my wife. written on the bottom it only states no lock or locking device on hazmat load. We are carrying cigarett lighters! close to 600 lbs of them. not like it's a bomb or explosives. our plycards are flammable gas class 2. anyway THANK YOU for replying i've not been able to locate the reg myself.but i'm going to keep trying.

Is it an inspection sheet? Maybe that is what they called a written warning.

Second that, no such law, at least not federal.

Maybe it meant no load locks . All hazmat loads have to be secure .