# Thunder Creek Equipment — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 19-0022 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2019-03-04 19-0022 response to Thunder Creek Equipment concerning 173.5. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 MAR O 4 2019 Mr. Luke Van Wyk Sales Manager Thunder Creek Equipment 1833 Highway 163 Pella, Iowa 50219 Reference No. 19-0022 Dear Mr. Van Wyk: This letter is in response to your August 22, 2018, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to agricultural operations. Specifically, you ask whether a local road, as the term is used in§ 173.5(a), must be constructed of a specific material. You state the Illinois State Police are defining local roads primarily as gravel roads when interpreting the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highway Functional Classification: Concepts, Criteria and Procedures guidance issued to State DOTs. Consequently, farmers are not able to utilize the exceptions provided for agricultural operations in§ 173.5(a) when transporting authorized hazardous materials over paved roads. Unlike the guidance provided by the FHWA, the term "local road" is not defined in the HMR. Section 173.5(a) of the HMR applies to agricultural products being transported over local roads between fields of the same farm. Please note, in the preamble of the January 8, 1997, final rule (62 FR 1207; [HM-200]) we stated, "For the purposes of this section, a local road does not . include an interstate highway." Thus, the type ofroadway (e.g., paved, unpaved, gravel) is irrelevant. We also note the FHW A guidance does not specify the type of roadway in its definition of a local road. I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, T. Glenn Foster Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> January, lkeya CTR (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Stevens, Michael (PHMSA) Monday, February 25, 2019 1:33 PM January, Ikeya CTR (PHMSA) Foster, Glenn (PHMSA); Stevens, Michael (PHMSA) Interpretation lkeya, Please assign the below interp request to me. The incoming is from: Mr. Luke Van Wyk Sales Manager Thunder Creek Equipment 1833 Highway 163 Pella, Iowa 50219 Phone number: (641) 620-4025 Thanks, Michael From: Luke Van Wyk Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2018 8:07 AM To: Stevens, Michael (PHMSA) Subject: RE: Questions Good morning Mr. Stevens, Thank you for getting back to me. In rural settings they are defining local roads primarily as gravel roads. They have referenced this Federal Highway Administration standard below as the basis for their very narrow interpretation of the term "local roads" as it is used on 173.5 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/statewide/related/highway functional classifications/section03.cfm Section 3, in particular section 3.1.6 defines what a local road is according to the Feds: 3.1.6 Local Roads Locally classified roads account for the largest percentage of all roadways in terms of mileage. They are not intended for use in long distance travel, except at the origin or destination end of the trip, due to their provision of direct access to abutting land. Bus routes generally do not run on Local Roads. They are often designed to discourage through traffic. As public roads, they should be accessible for public use throughout the year. 1 <<>> Local Roads are often classified by default. In other words, once all Arterial and Collector roadways have been identified, all remaining roadways are classified as Local Roads (see Table 3-4). Table 3-4: Characteristics of Urban and Rural Local Roads Urban Rural Provide direct access to adjacent land Provide access to higher systems Carry no through traffic movement Constitute the mileage not classified as part of the Arterial and Collector systems Serve primarily to provide access to adjacent land Provide service to travel over short distances as compared to higher classification categories Constitute the mileage not classified as part of the Arterial and Collector Luke Van Wyk I Vice President - Sales Thunder Creek Equipment Direct: 641.620.4025 Cell: 641-780-1285 Luke@ThunderCreek.com ThunderCreek.com I LDJ-Products.com Michael Stevens Transportation Specialist (Regulations) Standards and Rulemaking Division Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration US Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (E24-409) Washington, DC 20590 (202) 366-8553 2 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `335017e53c9a4bd422465ecd3e4f46b9d74b9e4c83ddb742a5f575dd25fc5051` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T10:52:32.253Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-19-0022` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Thunder Creek Equipment" ], "individuals": [ "Luke Van Wyk" ], "refIds": [ "19-0022" ], "catalogDates": [ "2019-03-04" ], "catalogParts": [ 173 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/71281" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "173.5", "173.5(a)" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/1735" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70951/190022.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70951/190022.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70951/190022.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/19-0022-4e4f8401fc.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "de69c95027312dfd50bf97993a4f31f047dc0eaafaaa8093bdf770ae8694a339", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/19-0022-4e4f8401fc.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "9801378aa1d99b9d841a4594152f58b3f29c05048128d65e788c3376f91237fb", "pageCount": 3, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```