# Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 25-0134 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2026-06-11 25-0134 response to Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc. concerning 174.14. ## Document text <<>> 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration June 11, 2026 Cary Hiles AVP of Environmental and Hazmat Safety Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc. 13901 Sutton Park Drive S. Jacksonville, FL 32224 Reference No. 25-0134 Dear Mr. Hiles: This letter is in response to your October 24, 2025 email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the 48-hour forwarding rule. Is a railroad in violation of § 174.14 if it receives placarded residue/empty railcars and stores them on non-private track? No. Under § 174.14(a), a carrier must forward each shipment of hazardous materials promptly and within 48 hours after acceptance, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. However, the original intent of the 48-hour rule was to prevent shippers from sending out loaded tank cars without a billed destination and to reduce the time in transit for loaded hazardous materials rail cars. As established in a prior Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) interpretation, 1 § 174.14(a) does not apply to intermodal transfer operations, highway shipments, or residue quantities. Because the 48-hour forwarding requirement does not cover residue quantities, your railroad would not be in violation of § 174.14 when storing the described placarded residue railcars on non-private track. 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 Branch Standards and Rulemaking Division 1 Earth Tech, Incorporated, Letter of Interpretation Number 08-0077, available at: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/interp/08-0077 <<>> Cajar, J. 25-0134 From: Nickels, Matthew (PHMSA) To: Hazmat Interps Cc: Baker, Yul (PHMSA) Subject: FW: G&W Railroads- Interpretation/Guidance Needed Date: Friday, October 24, 2025 11:11:01 Attachments: 080077 - 48-hour rule..pdf Importance: High Hey Yul, please process when everyone returns – email + attachment. Thank you! Mr. Matthew B. Nickels Acting Director, Standards & Rulemaking Division Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation From: Cary Hiles Sent: Friday, October 24, 2025 8:38 AM To: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) ; Nickels, Matthew (PHMSA) Subject: G&W Railroads- Interpretation/Guidance Needed Importance: High 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. Hello, We are seeking your guidance on how to interpret/comply with the requirement to place hazardous materials on non-private track in accordance with 49 CFR 171-174. Specifically, if a railroad receives residue/empty railcars that are placarded and stores them on non-private track, will the railroad be in violation of 49 CFR 174.14? The railroad will have a written agreement from the customer whereby the customer represents that the cars are residue/empty cars. We have been informed that Section 174.14(a) does not apply to residue quantities in rail cars even though the regulation does not specify loaded or residue/empty. Further, Section I. General Information, part 3. Expediting Hazardous Material Shipments in the US Hazmat Instructions for Rail implies that the instructions are applicable to ‘loaded’ hazardous materials shipments, less “time sensitive” shipments. Additionally, we’re citing interpretation reference letter No. 08- 0077 from November 21, 2009, which states “Section174.14(a) does not apply to intermodal transfer operations, nor does it apply to highway shipments, or residue quantities.” <<>> v/r Cary Hiles AVP of Environmental and Hazmat Safety Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc 13901 Sutton Park Drive S. Jacksonville, FL 32224 Cell: 904-495-9973 cary.hiles@gwrr.com <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 KG'.' 2 i Mr. Bob Crump Earth Tech, Incorporated 36 133 Schoolcraft Livonia, MI 48 150 Ref. No. 08-0077 Dear Mr. Crump: This responds to your e-mail requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171 -1 80). Specifically, you ask whether the requirement in § 174.14(a) of the HMR for rail carriers to forward shipments of hazardous materials within 48 hours applies to transloading operations. The original intent of the 48-hour rule was two-fold: (1) it was intended to prevent shippers from sending out loaded tank cars of hazardous materials without a billed destination and (2) it also was designed to prevent rail carriers from delaying delivery so that other, higher-tariffed commodities could be moved ahead of these shipments. Section 174.14 is now applied to achieve a broader public safety and security goal - that is, to reduce time in transit of hazardous materials rail cars, thereby reducing the risk of accidents, incidents, vandalism, or other safety or security related problems. For transloading operations from rail tank cars to cargo tank motor vehicles as described in your request, $ 1 74.14(a) does not apply. The 48-hour rule is a forwarding regulation while the shipment is in transport and does not cover delivery. (Delivery requirements are outlined in 5 174.16). Section 174.14 (a) does not apply to intermodal transfer operations nor does it apply to highway shipments, or residue quantities. I hope this information is helpful. Please contact this office should you have additional questions. i at tie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Standards <<>> Page 1 of 1 Drakeford, Carolyn From: Drakeford, Carolyn Sent: Wednesday, October 22,2008 10:14 AM To: Mclntyre, Joan Cc: Mitchell, Hattie Subject: FW: Applicability of 49 CFR 171.14 From: Crump, Bob [mailto:Bob.Crump@earthtech.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 4:01 PM To: :INFOCNTR Subject: Applicability of 49 CFR 171.14 Info Center: It seems very clear how storage incidental to transportation, defined in 49 CFR 171.1 applies to a transloading area. The materials are in transportation and therefore, EPA requirements do not apply. The material is regulated by DOT and must meet the requirements of f j 173.3 1 and f j 174. What I have been unable to determine is how the 48 hour time limit noted under 49 CFR 174.14 might apply. I spoke with a gentleman on the Helpdesk line and he wasn't s u e that provision was even being enforced. Because of the size difference between the rail car and tanker trucks, customer requirements (industry often doesn't have stationary tanks big enough to hold more than one truckload at a time), and other factors, it may be difficult to expedite a rail car to truck transload in 48 hours. Does this subsection apply to transloading, or have I missed something? If it does, why? Regards, Bob Crump, CHMM t:.r~.th !ik:h, !I,<.. Ozrrori (!ffice .?6 133 Schnnlr-rcqi L~i~unic~. 1111 ;a!.50 I:-mall- Boh C.~.mp@jE&hiech.corn ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `55b088bc5adff597a218327b26cf20249e249cdc9b1f904a28afa19733a1ea64` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T10:07:18.868Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-25-0134` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc." ], "individuals": [ "Cary Hiles" ], "refIds": [ "25-0134" ], "catalogDates": [ "2026-06-11" ], "catalogParts": [ 174 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/83996" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "174.14", "174.16", "171.14", "171.1", "173.3" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17414" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-06/25-0134.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-06/25-0134.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-06/25-0134.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/25-0134-4f04337c60.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "960568d7b1c33c54ed7c8b8a9e652c705383d9dc431876ef1b9149e24b56eef8", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/25-0134-4f04337c60.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "5cbd6b3c90c3d28b3f440224c66d640cc8e15883f9fd9e42d60fe17a9e4df531", "pageCount": 5, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```