Risk Characterization of Hazardous Materials Truck Safety

A significant concern within the trucking industry is the shipment of hazardous materials. Incidents involving the loading/unloading and enroute transport of dangerous cargo can lead to severe consequences characterized by fatalities, injuries, evacuation, property damage, environmental degradation and traffic disruption. To better address this concern, the paper analyses risks posed by trucks carrying hazardous materials (HM). Within hazardous materials shipments, risks differ depending on hazards associated with material being transported and the level of transport activity. An analysis of the types of HM accident consequences can provide important insights into HM truck transportation risk. The paper specifically analyzes the comparative impacts of spill accidents, accidents with a fire only and accidents with a fire and explosion. The paper also examines the association of these accident consequences with the major classes of HM materials. With an understanding of the comparative risks across these groupings, policymakers can make safety investment decisions that offer a high return on investment. This paper reports the HM risks component taken from a comparative risk assessment of HM and non-HM truck shipments conducted for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) by a team led by Battelle. The paper describes the methodology and presents the analysis results along with interpretations of these findings and consideration of their implication on public policy and practices associated with truck safety. In this research, an incident is defined as an event involving the transportation of hazardous material that leads to an emergency response due to the release or potential release of the cargo. An accident is an incident that occurs when the vehicle transporting the goods is involved in a collision. The study included both HM truck accidents with a release, HM truck accidents where no release occurred and HM truck releases that occurred due to loading/unloading or enroute leaks not caused by a truck accident. Non-spill truck accidents warranted consideration in this study because severe consequences (e.g., injuries and fatalities) can occur. Safety officials often treat any HM accident as a potential spill even if no release of material is apparent.