Hazardous Materials
Hazardous Materials
For passenger operations, the exam tests recognition and refusal more than hauling. The core rule is that hazardous materials do not belong in the passenger compartment, and suspicious items must be handled without touching them.
Core rules
- Do not carry hazardous materials in a bus with passengers. A placarded hazardous-materials load requires a hazmat endorsement and is not a passenger-carrying operation.
- Do not allow riders to bring gasoline, propane, fireworks, ammunition, pool chemicals, or unlabeled containers into the passenger area or baggage compartment.
- Recognize the nine hazard classes and placards, shipping papers, and emergency response information if you encounter them.
- No smoking within 25 feet of a hazardous-materials vehicle or while handling hazardous materials.
- If a package leaks, smells, or is suspicious, do not touch or move it. Keep riders away, move upwind, and call 911 and the carrier.
- If hazardous materials are involved in a fire or spill, evacuate immediately; do not try to fight the fire.
Worked example
A rider boards with a gasoline can and says it is empty. The driver should refuse to carry it in the passenger area. An empty container can still contain flammable vapor. The rider must dispose of it or take other transportation; the bus cannot proceed with the can aboard.
Traps
- Accepting small containers because they are just for a lawnmower.
- Storing a leaking package in the baggage compartment.
- Approaching a spill to read the label.
- Using water on a hazardous-materials fire.