WASHINGTON — Officials with the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) inspected 7,572 commercial motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials/dangerous goods (HM/DG) in the Canada, Mexico and the United States during the the annual five-day, unannounced HM/DG inspection and enforcement initiative.
This year’s blitz was held June 12-16.
According to a news release, a total of 8,395 packages were inspected, and inspectors discovered 2,578 HM/DG violations, of which 701 were HM/DG out-of-service (OOS) violations.
Vehicles that had out-of-service HM/DG violations were removed from roadways until those violations could be corrected. Vehicles that passed a North American Standard Level I Inspection without any critical inspection violations or specification cargo tank vehicle violations were eligible to receive a CVSA decal and permitted to continue to their destination.
“The transportation of HM/DG demands rigorous training and heightened compliance requirements,” the news release. “For motor carriers and drivers, safely transporting HM/DG is imperative to the safety of the driver, the public and the environment. For inspectors, inspecting vehicles transporting HM/DG is a complex and detailed process that involves safely looking for any leaking materials or unsecured HM/DG cargo, and checking shipping papers, placarding, marking, labeling, packaging and loading compliance.
U.S. Results
In the U.S., 6,123 vehicles and 6,722 HM packages were inspected during the five days of the HM/DG Road Blitz (2,658 non-bulk packages, 3,256 cargo tank packaging and 808 other bulk packaging).
Inspectors identified 2,096 HM violations, of which 538 were out-of-service HM violations.
Inspectors also discovered eight undeclared packages.
According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, each year, approximately 1,500 transportation incidents occur when undeclared hazardous materials are shipped.
For results in Canada and Mexico, along with more information about the safety blitz, click here.
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