Placarded Load at a Hummed Crossing

A placarded hazardous materials load must stop at every railroad crossing unless the crossing is specifically exempt or the track is abandoned. This crossing is neither - it has a crossbuck and active lights, which means it is in service.

The stop: 15 to 50 feet from the nearest rail, in the right lane, with the hazards on. Twenty feet is inside that range but close to the low end, and on a hump it is worth taking a few more feet to make sure the landing gear and rear bumper will not strike the rail head as you go over.

Before moving:

• Turn off the radio and the heater fan, and roll down the window. You cannot hear a horn, an approaching train, or a dragging chain over a fan on high.
• Look both ways, then look again, and listen. Because the track curves away behind trees to the north, your sight distance is short - a train can be close and still invisible when you first look.
• Confirm there is room on the far side for the entire rig, including the rear overhang, before you start across. A placarded tanker stopped on the rails is close to the worst-case scenario on any road.
• Note the ENS placard or 1-800 number posted at the crossing. That is the number you call if something goes wrong or if the signals appear to be malfunctioning.

No. "No train visible" is not the same as "no train."

Reasons the lights can be flashing without a train you can see:

• A second train. At many crossings, one train passing clears the view of a second train on another track moving the other way. This is the classic crossing fatality, and a single-track crossing can still have a switching move or a light engine coming through.
• The curve. The track disappears behind trees to the north. A train 20 seconds away is completely hidden from your seat until it is in the crossing.
• A malfunction. Signals fail. When they fail in the flashing mode, the failure is in the direction of telling you something is there.

The asymmetry decides it. Waiting costs you a few minutes. Being wrong with 8,000 gallons of gasoline costs lives, closes the road, and triggers a hazmat response. Never drive around lowered gates, and do not treat a malfunctioning signal as permission to cross.

What to do instead: wait through a complete cycle. If the lights keep flashing with no train, call the number posted on the signal post and report it, then notify dispatch. If the crossing cannot be confirmed safe, turn around or find another route. A gasoline tanker does not take that crossing on assumption.

Three separate conditions, all of which must be satisfied before the front bumper reaches the rail.

1. The signals have stopped and the track is confirmed clear. Look and listen again after the train passes; a second train on the same or an adjacent track is the exact moment most drivers get complacent.
2. You can clear the entire crossing. That means the whole rig - tractor, trailer, and rear overhang - plus a safety margin, will be past the far rail before you start. The box van stopped 60 feet beyond the far rail is directly in your exit path. If it is still there, you wait. Starting across and stopping behind it puts a placarded tanker sitting on the rails.
3. The hump will not hang you up. A 14-inch rise over 40 feet is a real transition angle. With 9 inches of clearance at the landing gear and the rear bumper, the trailer can bridge on the crown and lift the drives off the pavement, or drag the rear bumper as it comes down the far side. Before committing, watch a similar vehicle cross, or walk the crossing and look at how the pavement meets the rail. If you are not satisfied it will clear, take another route. Once you start, do not stop and do not shift gears - a stall or a missed shift on the rails is exactly the situation the go/no-go check exists to prevent. Keep a steady, slow speed straight across.