A crash course in hazmat transportation

On any given night, drivers guide tons of hazardous materials down desolate stretches of interstate. Drums of waste rattle over bumps, alongside whatever else was packed into the trailer--all of it marked DANGEROUS to the outside world. In the event of an accident, how much one ends up paying can depend on how quickly one gets involved and one`s level of preparedness. By its nature, a hazardous materials transportation mishap is unexpected--there are an infinite number of things that can go wrong--but, the responsible party can`t hesitate and wait to see what happens next. The best piece of advice for someone who faces a potential transportation incident is to work through the risks. Prepare for possible incident or accident. Prepare not only with written plans, but with actual practice. Written plans are not only essential, they are required by law in many cases. Rail and truck transporters must have a plan and, if there is an accident, must implement that plan. It sounds like yet another expensive compliance issue, but DOT may be doing some companies a favor. If a company doesn`t know what to do, the government will step in and the price will go up. There always willmore » be public sector involvement, usually in the form of local and state authorities, but federal agencies would just as soon keep out of the fray if matters are under control.« less