Hazardous materials transportation

Abstract

According to the US Department of Transportation (US DOT), a hazardous material is defined as any substance or material capable of causing harm to people, property, and the environment. Dependence on hazardous materials is a fact in industrialized societies. There are thousands of different hazardous materials in use currently. The United Nations sorts hazardous materials into nine classes according to their physical, chemical, and nuclear properties: explosives and pyrotechnics; gasses; flammable and combustible liquids; flammable, combustible, and dangerous-when-wet solids; oxidizers and organic peroxides; poisonous and infectious materials; radioactive materials; corrosive materials (acidic or basic); and miscellaneous dangerous goods, such as hazardous wastes. In almost all instances, hazmats originate at a location other than their destination. The transportation of hazmats can be classified according to the mode of transport—namely, road, rail, water, air, and pipeline. Some shipments are intermodal; they are switched from one mode to another during transit.