Railroad - Responsibilities

The HMR applies to people and organizations who:

• Transport hazardous materials in commerce.
• Offer hazardous materials for interstate, foreign, and intrastate transportation in commerce.
• Design, manufacture, fabricate, inspect, mark, maintain, recondition, repair, or test a package, container, or packaging component used for transporting hazardous material in commerce.
• Prepare or accept hazardous materials for transportation in commerce.
• Are responsible for the safety of transporting hazardous materials in commerce.
• Certify compliance with any requirement under the federal HAZMAT law.

The carrier is responsible for having their hazardous material cargo in compliance with the HMR at the time the shipment is offered for transportation. The carrier is responsible for determining that the shipper has complied with the regulations before the carrier transports the cargo.

A carrier must not offer or accept hazardous materials for transportation unless it is prepared in accordance with the HMR.

To learn more about Railroad HAZMAT visit our DOT Railroad HAZMAT Online Training web page.