{"operation":"document","citation":"14-0177","title":"American Marine Express — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2015-03-31","effective_on":null,"summary":"14-0177 response to American Marine Express concerning 171.8.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0177.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0177.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0177","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/140177.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\nWashington, DC 20590\n1200 New Jersey Avenue SE\nMaterials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous\nAdministration\nMAR 3 1 2015\nMr. Randy Wheaton\n765 E 140# ST\nAmerican Marine Express\nCleveland, OH 44110\nRef. No.: 14-0177\nDear Mr. Wheaton:\nThis responds to your September 23, 2014 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to training requirements.\nIn your letter, you describe customer service employees who contact hazardous materials\nshippers by phone to schedule appointments for drivers to pick up freight in overseas\ncontainers. You also describe dispatchers who speak to drivers who pick up containers\nwith hazardous materials and transport them to rail roads for domestic transportation and\nexport. To be proactive, your company may request that the shipping documents be sent to\nthe freight forwarders, who then confirm the information is correctly documented. You\nask whether these customer service employees and dispatchers are \"hazmat employees\" as\ndefined in § 171.8 of the HMR.\nThe answer is no. The definition of \"hazmat employee\" reads in part that a person, who in\nthe course of employment, directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety; loads,\nunloads, or handles hazardous materials; prepares hazardous materials for transportation; is\nresponsible for the safety of transporting hazardous materials; or, operates a vehicle used to\ntransport hazardous materials. A third party logistics company or broker who contracts\nwith a carrier to transport a shipment on behalf of the original shipper is not considered an\nofferor for purposes of the HMR unless it also performs one or more pre-transportation\nfunctions to prepare the shipment for transportation in commerce\nI trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nAlenn Foster\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nAndrews\n$171.8\nDefinition\n14-0111\nFrom: Randy Wheaton [mailto:randyw@amxtrans.com]\nTo: PHMSA HM InfoCenter\nSent: Monday, September 22, 2014 3:36 PM\nCc: Julie B\nSubject: Interpretation request\nHello,\nOur office is trying to get clarification on a term that seems vague in the category of exactly who it is that falls into the\nheading of a Hazmat Employee!\nThe term we are having issues with is \"is responsible for the safety of transporting hazmat\".\nWe have Customer Service people in our office who contact hazmat shippers by phone to schedule appointments for\nour drivers to arrive and pickup this freight in overseas containers.\nTo be proactive in getting the rail billing in place, we at times request the documents from the shippers solely to forward\nto the Freight Forwarders, who confirm the info is correctly documented and forward on to the Steamship lines who\nultimately confirm and forward to the rail roads Hazmat departments for confirmation and data entry into their systems.\nWe also have dispatchers who speak with the drivers who pickup hazmat goods in full container loads and transport\nthem to the rail roads for domestic transportation and export freight.\nNeither one of these jobs really seem to fall into this \"Is responsible for the transportation\" category.\nThe Shippers provide the documents.\nThe Forwarders confirm the documents.\nThe Forwarders send the documents to the rails and the drivers pickup, transport and deliver to final destination.\nCan you clarify if our dispatchers and customer service roles fall into this category or not?\nRandy Wheaton\nAMX Dispatch & Customer Service\nPH 216-268-3005\nFX 216-268-3006\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\nFrom:\nCiccarone, Michael CTR (PHMSA)\nSent:\nTo:\nTuesday, September 23, 2014 1:23 PM\nSubject:\nHazmat Interps\nFW: Interpretation request\nShante and Alice,\nPlease submit this for a formal letter of interpretation.\nThanks,\nMike\nSent: Tuesday, September. 23, 2014 7:34 AM\nFrom: Randy Wheaton [mailto: randyw@amxtrans.com]\nTo: Ciccarone, Michael CTR (PHMSA)\nSubject: RE: Interpretation request\nMike,\nWe are at address below, please direct to me, thank you.\nAmerican Marine Express\n765 E 140th St\nCleveland OH, 44110.\nRandy Wheaton\nAMX Dispatch & Customer Service\nPH 216-268-3005\nFX 216-268-3006\nFrom: m.ciccarone.ctr@dot.gov[mailto:m.ciccarone.ctr@dot.gov]\nSent: Monday, September 22, 2014 4:29 PM\nTo: Randy Wheaton\nSubject: RE: Interpretation request\nDear Randy,\nhazardous materials regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180).\nwe have received your request for a written letter of interpretation regarding the\nPlease include your company's physical address to expedite the submission process.\nSincerely,\nMike, Hazardous Materials Specialist\nAn e-mail response from this office is considered informal guidance. Formal guidance may\nbe requested in accordance with 49 CFR 105.20.\nhttp://phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/interps","truncated":false,"body_characters":4908}