Specialty hauling terms, A to Z
The words tanker, hazmat, car hauling, livestock, grain and logging drivers use, each explained in plain words with an example from the job and the rule behind it.
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- 28-hour lawThe 28-hour law is the federal rule that animals may not be confined in a vehicle for more than 28 consecutive hours without being unloaded for feed, water and at least five hours of rest.
A
- auto transport bill of ladingAn auto transport bill of lading is the document a car hauler completes for each vehicle: who is shipping it, where it is going, and its condition at pickup and delivery, marked on a vehicle diagram and signed by both sides.
B
- bulk vs non-bulkIn hazmat rules, a bulk packaging holds hazardous material with no inner container, such as a cargo tank, with a capacity over 119 gallons for liquids.
C
- car hauler wedgeA car hauler wedge is a gooseneck trailer with a deck that slopes down toward the rear, built to carry two to four vehicles behind a heavy-duty pickup or medium-duty truck.
- cargo tankA cargo tank is a bulk packaging for liquids or gases that is permanently attached to or part of a truck or trailer, or is loaded and unloaded without being removed from it.
- crude haulerA crude hauler is a tanker driver who picks up crude oil from storage tanks at well sites and hauls it to pipeline stations, rail terminals or refineries.
E
- emergency response guidebookThe Emergency Response Guidebook, or ERG, is PHMSA's guide for the first minutes of a hazardous materials incident.
F
- food-grade washoutA food-grade washout is a cleaning of a tanker or trailer, inside and out, to the standard a food shipper requires before loading, documented with a wash ticket.
- frac sandFrac sand is the high-purity sand pumped into oil and gas wells during hydraulic fracturing to hold the cracks in the rock open.
H
- hazmat segregation tableThe hazmat segregation table, in 49 CFR 177.848, is the chart that tells a carrier which hazard classes may not share a truck.
- headrackA headrack, also called a headache rack or headerboard, is the strong wall mounted behind a truck's cab or at the front of a trailer deck.
- hopper gatesHopper gates are the sliding doors at the bottom of each hopper on a grain trailer.
L
- log bunksLog bunks are the steel cross beams on a log truck or trailer that the logs rest on, each with an upright stake at both ends.
P
- pneumatic blowerA pneumatic blower is the air compressor, usually driven by the truck's engine, that pressurizes a dry bulk trailer so the load flows out through a hose into a customer's silo.
S
- stinger-steerA stinger-steer car hauler is a tractor-trailer whose fifth wheel sits low and behind the tractor's drive axles, on an extension called the stinger.
- surge in tankersSurge is the force of liquid moving inside a partly filled tanker.
T
- tank outageTank outage is the empty space deliberately left at the top of a cargo tank or compartment so the liquid has room to expand as it warms.
- TWIC cardA TWIC, or Transportation Worker Identification Credential, is the TSA-issued card required for unescorted access to secure areas of maritime facilities and vessels.
U
- UN numberA UN number is the four-digit identification number assigned to a hazardous material or group of materials, such as UN1203 for gasoline.
V
- vehicle damage reportIn car hauling, a vehicle damage report, or condition report, records every scratch, dent, chip and crack on a vehicle at pickup and again at delivery, with photos and signatures.
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