Box 15-D
Hazardous Materials
Reporting
The
U.S. Department of Transportation's Hazardous Materials Information System
(HMIS) is the primary source of national data on hazardous materials
transportation safety. Hazardous materials, as defined in regulations, include
nine classes of gases and liquids and other substances.1 However, the vast majority of the hazardous materials shipped within the
United States
each year (82 percent in
2002) are flammable and combustible liquids, primarily petroleum products. Incident
reporting requirements were extended to intrastate motor carriers on Oct. 1, 1998, which may partly explain the subsequent increased
volume of reports. Beginning in April 1993, there was a sharp improvement in
reporting of incidents by small package carriers.
Source
U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology
Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of
Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, Hazardous Materials (Washington, DC: December
2004), table 2a.
1 The nine classes are: explosives; gases; flammable
liquid; flammable solid; oxidizer, organic; poison (toxic); radioactive;
corrosive; and miscellaneous hazardous material. Some classes are further divided into subclasses.
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