The Materials of Trade Exception for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials
As a shipper of hazardous materials, you are likely comfortable with routine HazMat shipments:
- Offer a hazardous material for transportation to a carrier.
- Carrier transports HazMat to destination.
- HazMat received at destination.
Sometimes, however, you’re faced with a non-routine situation: you or an employee must transport a hazardous material by motor vehicle over a public roadway. The need is not limited to, but may include, any one of the following:
- A ‘sister’ facility requires a small amount of product or raw material from your location.
- You are required to transport a sample of some material to an off-site location for analysis.
- You must deliver a product to a customer.
- A hazardous material is necessary to provide a service to a customer at their location.
- A hazardous material is necessary to conduct a maintenance service activity at an off-site location.
In any of these situations your concern may be that as a shipper of hazardous materials (one who offers hazardous materials for transportation) you are not allowed to perform the role of a carrier (one who transports hazardous materials in commerce). You may not be aware that the Hazardous Materials Regulations contain an option for shippers of HazMat in this situation. Known as the Materials of Trade Exception and codified at 49 CFR 173.6, it was created to simplify the transportation of…
- Certain hazardous materials…
- In small quantities…
- By motor vehicle over a public roadway.