Two Totes of Hydrogen Peroxide, a Man With $200, and Two Pallets That Are Not on the Paperwork
You are under contract to move two 350-gallon totes of UN2014, Hydrogen peroxide, aqueous solution, with not less than 20% but not more than 60% hydrogen peroxide, 5.1 (8), PG II, from a port warehouse to a water treatment plant 210 miles away. Your company's security plan names a 24-hour security contact and requires a check-in call at the midpoint. While you wait at the gate, a man in an unmarked van asks which plant you are delivering to, offers you $200 cash for a copy of the shipping paper, and says he only needs to confirm the delivery window "for the customer." Later, the warehouse clerk hands you a revised bill of lading that adds two unlisted pallets of "sample chemicals" consigned to an address that is not on your route plan, and asks you to "keep it off the paperwork - it's a favor for a friend."
1. How do you handle the man in the van?
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Do not answer the questions, and do not hand over or show the shipping paper.
The shipping paper tells a stranger the proper shipping name, the quantity, the consignee, the route timing, and the emergency contact - that is a delivery schedule and a target list in one document. Hydrogen peroxide at these concentrations is a recognized precursor material and a theft target precisely because of what it can be used to make, so questions about destination and timing are exactly the kind of probing the security plan exists to catch.
Do this instead:
- Give a neutral non-answer - "I don't discuss loads" - and move to a controlled area or back into the cab with the doors locked.
- Note the time, the van's description, any plate, and the person's description while it is fresh.
- Call the company security contact before you leave the gate, and report the solicitation.
- If the behavior continues or the person follows you, call local police and give them the description; a solicitation for shipping documents is worth a report even if nothing else happens.
Do not take the money and do not "just show him the destination." The $200 is the tell that this is not a customer service inquiry.
2. What do you do about the two unlisted pallets of "sample chemicals"?
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You refuse them, and the phrasing of the request tells you why.
A hazardous material cannot move without a proper shipping description, the correct packaging and labels, an emergency response telephone number, and - for materials and routes like this - a route plan and a security assessment. "Sample chemicals" is not a proper shipping name and not a hazard class; there is no way to know what is in the pallets, what they must be segregated from, how they must be secured, or what to tell a fire department if the trailer burns. Two pallets of an unknown oxidizer loaded next to UN2014 is a compatibility question nobody at that dock has answered.
"Keep it off the paperwork" is the disqualifying sentence. Freight that is not on the paper is freight you are carrying illegally and cannot hand to a responder.
Actions: decline, tell the clerk why in one sentence, call dispatch and the security contact, and note the clerk's name, the time, and the consignee address offered. If the pressure continues or the request looks like an attempt to move material off the record, report it to the security contact immediately - and to law enforcement if the pattern is repeated or threatening. Depart on your approved route with exactly what your paperwork describes.
3. What does the security plan require of you between the gate and the plant, and what specific habits reduce the risk for this load?
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The plan's requirements are the floor: a check-in at the midpoint, adherence to the approved route, and immediate reporting of anything unusual. Beyond that, the habits that matter for a placarded oxidizer are:
- No unnecessary stops. Fuel and food where you planned to stop, not where the truck happens to be when you get hungry. If you must stop, choose a well-lit, busy location and keep the trailer in sight.
- Doors locked, cab locked, paperwork on you. Do not leave the shipping paper on the dash at a diner.
- Do not discuss the load on the phone in public, or with anyone at a stop who asks what you are hauling.
- Watch for surveillance. A vehicle that appears at the terminal, at a rest area, and again near the plant is a reportable observation, not a coincidence.
- Secure parking overnight. If the run slips past dark, use a carrier-approved lot or safe haven rather than a remote pull-off; a loaded oxidizer tank is not something to leave unguarded on a shoulder.
- Verify changes through known channels. If someone calls to redirect you, hang up and call dispatch on the number you already have.
Report the gate solicitation and the paperwork pressure in the same call, so the company sees a pattern rather than two unrelated annoyances.