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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

MODAL BREAKDOWN OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENTS

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

MODAL BREAKDOWN OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENTS

Hazardous Materials Incidents by Mode (monthly data)

Hazardous Materials Incidents by Mode (monthly data)-Highway and Air Incidents

Hazardous Materials Incidents by Mode (monthly data)

Hazardous Materials Incidents by Mode (monthly data)-Rail and Waterborne Incidents

Most reported releases of hazardous materials occur on the highways.

Hazardous Materials Incidents by mode Feb-00 Feb-01
Highway 1,160 926
Highway percent change from same month previous year 24.60 -20.17
Air 119 70
Air percent change from same month previous year 35.23 -41.18
Rail 89 45
Rail percent change from same month previous year 18.67 -49.44
Waterborne (not including bulk shipments) 1 0
Waterborne percent change from same month previous year 0.00 -100.00

NOTE: The current value is compared to the value from the same period in the previous year to account for seasonality.

Incident reporting requirements were extended to intrastate motor carriers on October 1, 1998, which may partly explain the subsequent increased volume of reports. Beginning in April 1993, there was sharp improvement in reporting of incidents by small package carriers.

A reported incident is a report of any unintentional release of hazardous material while in transportation (including loading, unloading, and temporary storage). It excludes pipeline and bulk shipments by water, which are reported separately.

SOURCE: U. S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Program Administration, Office of Hazardous Materials, Planning and Analysis, Hazardous Materials Information System data obtained through personal communication.