# Dead River Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 25-0036 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2026-01-27 25-0036 response to Dead River Company concerning 173.6. ## Document text <<>> 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration January 27, 2026 Tom Coty Safety & Compliance Specialist Dead River Company 82 Running Hill Rd. Suite 400 South Portland, ME 04106 Reference No. 25-0036 Dear Mr. Coty: This letter is in response to your March 28, 2025, letter and subsequent correspondence requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the materials of trade (MOTs) provisions. In your letter, you note that your service technicians routinely carry small cylinders containing propane in commercial motor vehicles in support of their service work. Specifically, you ask whether your business operations meet the requirements of the MOTs provisions and whether shipping papers would be required. We have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows: Q1. Does a cylinder containing propane used exclusively for appliance service (i.e., not for delivery or filling purposes), which is transported by a service technician, meet the requirements of the MOTs provisions specified in § 173.6, and is the shipment excepted from the shipping paper requirements? A1. Yes. Provided the service technician is only performing appliance service (i.e., is not providing delivery or the filling of propane cylinders) and a propane cylinder carried by the service technician complies with all applicable requirements of § 173.6, the propane would qualify for the MOTs provisions. These provisions include relief from the shipping paper requirements. Q2. Does propane used by a delivery driver to provide filling services to customers meet the requirements for the MOTs provisions specified in § 173.6, and is the propane in this scenario excepted from the shipping paper requirements? A2. No. As described, the propane is being transported in commerce and is being delivered to the purchaser of the propane. The hazardous material is not for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the motor vehicle operator or passengers, or for the purpose of <<>> supporting the operation or maintenance of a motor vehicle (including its auxiliary equipment). Although the transportation described is by private motor carrier, the hazardous material is not being utilized by the carrier in direct support of a principal business that is other than transportation by motor vehicle, but rather is being sold and delivered to a customer. Therefore, this does not qualify for the MOTs provisions specified in § 173.6, and the shipment is subject to the full requirements of the HMR, including compliance with the shipping paper requirements. I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Alexander Wolcott Acting Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> Jacobson 25-0036 From: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) To: Dodd, Alice (PHMSA) Cc: Hazmat Interps; Baker, Yul (PHMSA) Subject: FW: Request for letter of interpretation regarding Materials of Trade and shipping papers Date: Friday, March 28, 2025 5:04:33 PM Attachments: image001.png Hi Alice, Please see the below interpretation request. Let us know if you need anything. Sincerely, Janaye From: Thomas Coty Sent: Friday, March 28, 2025 10:24 AM To: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) Subject: Request for letter of interpretation regarding Materials of Trade and shipping papers You don't often get email from thomas.coty@deadriver.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Tom Coty Safety & Compliance Specialist Dead River Company – Delivering on A promise 82 Running Hill Rd Suite 400 South Portland, ME 04106 Cell 603-851-3419 thomas.coty@deadriver.com <<>> From: Thomas Coty To: Jacobson, Noah (PHMSA) Subject: Re: PHMSA Request for Interpretation 25-0036 - Clarifying Questions Date: Friday, April 11, 2025 8:09:21 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Good morning sir, Dead River Company is a full-service propane and oil delivery business. The business function of our technicians is to perform the installations, repairs and maintenance of propane and oil appliances. Technicians that work on propane appliances typically carry propane on their service trucks in smaller “drift” tanks, like a forklift tank. We provide 24-hour on-call service to our customers and these tanks are often used during many afterhours calls. The propane is only used to get our customers back up and running. A delivery driver would then be dispatched to the customer’s location to fill their tank. I look forward to your reply. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Thank you, Tom On Apr 10, 2025, at 11:58 AM, Jacobson, Noah (PHMSA) wrote:  [THIS EMAIL ORIGINATED FROM OUTSIDE OF THE ORGANIZATION: Pause and review the sender's email address, any URLs before clicking links, opening attachments, or following requests. When in doubt, contact Information Security] Good Morning Mr. Coty, I have some clarifying questions pertaining to your request for interpretation regarding the Materials of Trade exception and shipping papers. In order to accurately answer your question, some information on the business operations related to the propane would be very helpful. What is the business function of your service technicians? Additionally, what do they carry the propane for and how is it used? Thank you for helping to clarify this for us as we develop our response to your request. <<>> Best, Noah Jacobson Noah Jacobson Transportation Regulatory Specialist, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Standards and Rulemaking Division US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave. Washington D.C., 20590 Office: (202) 366-5162 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `14f96a1e751580acf9d9a85612dfdd2d6b182a7e63492a29dd55d524fab6375d` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T05:50:57.264Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-25-0036` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Dead River Company" ], "individuals": [ "Tom Coty" ], "refIds": [ "25-0036" ], "catalogDates": [ "2026-01-27" ], "catalogParts": [ 173 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/82086" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "173.6" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/1736" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-02/250036.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-02/250036.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-02/250036.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/25-0036-66d4f2ae25.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "3d661170cc08b7147aab9f2f548f96b0b93aa7e39e82f96f24e245012ee37dee", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/25-0036-66d4f2ae25.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "71db65c3ed904cf66e2e7b5d04f9c0857dcfe731e740e7b5dd21addb22b278d2", "pageCount": 5, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```