# United Parcel Service — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 08-0281 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2008-12-12 08-0281 response to United Parcel Service concerning 171.8, 172.704. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave., S E Washington, DC 20590 Mr. Samuel S. Elkind Corporate Regulated Goods Manager United Parcel Service 55 Glenlake Parkway, NE Atlanta, GA 30328-3474 Ref. No. 08-028 1 Dear Mr. Elkind: This responds to your November 14,2008 letter requesting clarification on training requirements under 5 172.704(d) in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-1 80). Specifically, you ask if the name and address of the person performing the training may be the company or corporate name and address, based on the definition of "person" in tj 17 1.8 of the HMR. The answer is yes. It is the opinion of this office that the term "person" under tj 17 1.8 applies ' to the requirement in tj 172.704(d)(4). Therefore, the individual name and address of the person providing training or the name and address of the company or corporation providing the training may be used to satisfy the requirement in 5 172.704(d)(4). . I hope this answers your inquiry. hief, Standards Development Materials Standards <<>> 55 Glenlake Parkway, NE Atlanta, GA 30328-3474 November 14,2008 Mr. Edward Mazzullo Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE - PHH- 10 Washington, DC, 20590 Re: 49 CFR 172.704(d)(4) - Recordkeepinn for Training Dear Mr. Mazzullo: A recent discussion with an Agent of the Department of Transportation has centered on whether certain hazardous materials training records prepared by United Parcel Service (UPS) are adequate when, to identify the person providing the training, the documents display the company name (i.e., UPS) and the address of the UPS ofice responsible for the development of the training material. It is the contention of this agent that UPS records must display the actual name and address of an individual who performed the training. Because UPS'S reading of the applicable regulations leads us to a different conclusion, it seeks an interpretation fiom your office. The relevant regulation that defines this part of a training record is 49 CFR 172.704(d)(4), which specifies that a training record must include the name and address of the "person" providing the training. However, 49 CFR 171.8, which provides the applicable definition of the term "person," is broader in its scope. Under this section, "person" is defined to mean not simply an individual, but also a variety of other entities, including a corporation: Person means an individual, coreoration, company, association, fm, partnership, society, joint stock company; or a government, Indian tribe, or authority of a govenunent or tribe offering a hazardous material for transportation in commerce or transporting a hazardous material to support a commercial enterprise. This terin does not include the United States Postal Service or, for purposes of 49 U.S.C. 5123 and 5124, a Department, agency, or instrumentality of the government. (Emphasis added.) Accordingly, UPS views the use of its company name and the address of the office responsible for developing the training to be consistent with the requirements and terminology of the regulations. Significantly, the clear language of 49 CFR 172.704(d)(4) does not in any way qualify the tern "person." There is no reference to an "individual"; nor is there any indication that the applicz-ble definition of "person" would not apply to this particular provision. Therefore, UPS believes that users of the regulations are entitled to <<>> Mr. Edward Mazzullo November 14,2008 Page 2 interpret the term "person" in an individual or corporate sense, just as PHMSA and its predecessor agencies have done in their own work with respect to other provisions of the Hazardous Materials Regulations. UPS is reluctant to change the format of its training records and to incur the programming costs necessary to modify the printouts from internal employee databases based upon the change suggested by this Agent, as UPS does not believe the Agent's position is supported by the regulations. Your interpretation will be of great assistance. UPS looks forward to your response. Samuel S. Elkind Corporate Regulated Goods Manager ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `cab17b148b2d1bbb60d0e607be7a1d44d37b3eea7020ec882327ed375be8f543` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T10:27:04.103Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-08-0281` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "United Parcel Service" ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Samuel S. 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