American Trucking Associations Chairman Barbara Windsor told a House panel Wednesday that changes are needed to regulations governing hazardous materials shipments in order to improve efficiency and relieve unnecessary regulatory burdens.
“The safety and security record for hazmat transportation by truck is impressive,” Windsor told the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s subcommittee on railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials.
“Serious incidents have decreased by 30% over the past decade and the annual number of highway fatalities involving hazardous materials has declined from 16 to 4,” said Windsor, who is CEO of Hahn Transportation, New Market, Md.
Despite these gains, Windsor put forward several recommendations the government should enact to further improve the safe, secure and efficient transportation of hazardous materials.
Those include ensuring equitable enforcement of hazmat regulations, reforming incident reporting requirements and abandoning costly proposals to restrict transportation of flammable liquids in the pipes used to load and unload gasoline and other flammable products.
