Roadway Freight of Hazardous and Dangerous Cargoes
The peculiarities of roadway freight make this way of shipping the most appropriate for transportation of hazardous and dangerous cargoes. However, this is true only for those cases, when the freight concerned can be attributed to small-sized or middle-sized freight. The larger and heavier is the cargo, the higher is the chance that sea shipping or air shipping is required.
So what are the specific requirements to the roadway freight as regards hazardous and dangerous cargoes? First of all we should give the definition of such fright. Hazardous and dangerous cargoes are such substances, materials, articles and waste products which, due to their specific features and qualities, may lead, in the course of their shipping by means of motor transport, to different hazards. These are the following: environmental hazards, fire and explosive hazards, risk of damaging vehicles or buildings, as well as human health and animal health hazards, which include injuries, poisoning, burns, diseases and death of humans and animals.
Therefore, roadway freight of hazardous and dangerous cargoes should be performed by means of special kinds of transport only and in special containers only. Such kinds of vehicles and packaging greatly depend on the nature of the cargo. According to the widely accepted international classification system, there are nine classes of hazardous and dangerous cargoes.
Class 1 includes explosives; class 2 consists of inflammable, non-inflammable and poisonous gases; class 3 is for inflammable liquids; class 4 – for inflammable solids and substances. Class 5 includes oxidizing substances and organic peroxides; class 6 – toxic and infectious substances; class 7 is for radioactive substances, class 8 includes corrosive materials, and class 9 is consisted of miscellaneous substances.
First of all, vehicles which are used for roadway freight of explosive and highly inflammable cargoes must be equipped with a muffler pipe directed aside, not straightly. Then, fuel tank of a vehicle intended for carriage of such articles and substances should be situated far from the storage battery, as well as from wires and from the discharge pipe. It should also be situated in such a way that the possible fuel escape doesn’t lead to the fuel’s getting on the hazardous cargo being transported.
If roadway freight of cargoes which belong to the classes 1-5 is occasional, then it may be performed by means of vehicles which are not specially equipped for shipping of such hazardous cargoes. But in this case placing of a spark-extinguishing net on the discharge pipe should be mandatory.
Then, roadway freight of such cargoes should be made by means of vehicles which have a ground chain. If a vehicle intended for carriage has a van, then its body should be thoroughly covered, durable and should have no gaps. The materials used for covering of such vans should be water-resistant and fire-resistant.
Keeping to these principles increases the level of the roadway transportation safety. Along with the other advantages of this kind of shipping, such as traceability and controllability, it allows direct delivery with no transshipping. All these qualities make roadway freight best suitable for hazardous and dangerous cargoes.
