Hazardous Materials and Prohibited Items on Passenger Vehicles
What this domain tests
Expect questions on what passengers may bring aboard, which items are absolutely prohibited, what to do when you find a prohibited item, and why "small amount" is not a defense.
Prohibited and restricted items
- Hazardous materials are not allowed in the passenger cabin or in baggage carried by passengers: gasoline, propane cylinders, fireworks, pool chemicals, ammunition beyond small personal-use quantities, corrosive or poisonous materials, and most compressed gases.
- Small-arms ammunition for personal use is a recognized limited exception; carrier policy and Florida law still control.
- Battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility devices are permitted, but spillable batteries must be secured and protected; carriers may require non-spillable batteries or specific securement.
- Medical oxygen may be carried by a passenger under carrier policy; the cylinder must be secured and not block the aisle.
- No hazmat placards or cargo tanks on a passenger vehicle. Freight is not carried in the passenger cabin outside designated areas.
Your duties as driver
- Watch what passengers carry on; ask when an item looks like fuel, a torch, or a cylinder.
- Refuse boarding or remove the item; do not store it in the baggage compartment "for later".
- If an item is already aboard and leaking, smoking, or unidentified, stop in a safe place, evacuate if needed, and call dispatch and 911. Do not handle it.
- Report the refusal and the circumstances to your carrier.
Worked example
A passenger boards with a 20-pound propane cylinder for a camping grill, saying it is empty. Empty or not, a propane cylinder is a hazardous material and may not be carried in the passenger cabin or baggage area of a bus. The driver refuses boarding until the cylinder is removed and left behind, and notifies dispatch. "It's empty" and "it's small" do not change the answer.
Traps that cost marks
- Accepting a gasoline can because it is in a sealed container.
- Allowing a cylinder in the baggage compartment as a compromise.
- Forgetting that wheelchair batteries are a regulated exception.
- Trying to identify or clean up a leaking package yourself.
- Assuming the carrier, not the driver, is responsible for what comes aboard.