Hazardous Material Permits: FMCSA Rule Means More Records

FMCSA Hazardous Material Permit Records Rule Adds 799,400 Burden Hours Each Year

A federal hazardous material paperwork rule is staying in place, and FMCSA says it continues to create a heavy recordkeeping load for parts of the trucking industry.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently published a notice asking for public comment on the renewal of its approved information collection for Hazardous Materials Safety Permits. This is not a new hazmat permit program. FMCSA is not creating a new rule in this filing. Instead, the agency wants to continue an existing recordkeeping requirement for motor carriers that operate under these permits.

FMCSA says this ongoing requirement creates an estimated 799,400 burden hours every year.

FMCSA Wants Hazardous Material Shipment Contact Records Kept

Under the current Hazardous Materials Safety Permit rules, carriers with these permits must maintain a communications plan. That plan must allow the periodic tracking of certain hazardous material shipments.

FMCSA says the communication record must show the time of the call and the location of the shipment. The agency also says these records may be kept either by the motor carrier or by the commercial truck driver. In some cases, the driver may record the information in a log book.

The records must then be stored for at least six months. They may be kept in paper form or electronic form. FMCSA says they must be stored at the company’s principal place of business or be readily available to workers at that location.

This federal notice was issued under the Paperwork Reduction Act. That law requires FMCSA to seek approval before continuing this type of information collection.

FMCSA Says Requirement Covers More Than 9.5 Million Hazardous Material Trips

The agency also gave new figures showing how large this paperwork task is across the industry.

FMCSA based its annual estimate on 9,592,800 trips. It says each communication record takes about five minutes to complete. Using that math, the agency reached a yearly total of 799,400 burden hours.

FMCSA also states that communication between the motor carrier and the driver must happen at least two times each day.

Five minutes may not sound like much for one trip. But when this process is repeated over millions of hazardous material loads, the paperwork time becomes much larger.

Which Trucking Operations Fall Under This Rule?

This notice applies only to carriers that are subject to the Hazardous Materials Safety Permit requirements found in 49 CFR part 385, subpart E.

FMCSA says there are 1,142 respondents affected by these permit-related duties.

This does not apply to most general freight trucking companies. It applies to carriers hauling certain hazardous materials that require an FMCSA safety permit.

The operations most likely to deal with this rule include:

• hazmat trucking fleets,
• safety departments,
• compliance managers,
• dispatch offices,
• owner-operators hauling covered hazardous material freight,
• and commercial truck drivers assigned to those loads.

Dry van carriers, refrigerated fleets, flatbed fleets, and many local freight operations are not likely to feel a direct impact from this particular notice.

How This May Affect Commercial Truck Drivers Hauling Hazardous Material

For commercial truck drivers who haul permit-level hazardous materials, this rule can mean more daily tracking steps during a trip.

FMCSA says the communication record may be kept by either the company or the driver. Because of that, some drivers may be required to note contact times, shipment locations, or related trip details while the load is moving.

That can lead to more:

• required check-ins during the day,
• paperwork tied to each hazardous material shipment,
• records that must be complete,
• and more documentation that could be reviewed during an FMCSA compliance check.

For owner-operators and smaller hazmat carriers, the impact may be even more noticeable. The extra work does not end when the truck is parked. It can also create more office paperwork tied to each trip.

FMCSA Is Now Taking Public Comments

FMCSA is asking the public to comment on this renewal request before the agency sends it to the Office of Management and Budget for final approval.

The agency specifically asked for comments on several issues. These include whether the collection is necessary, whether the burden estimate is accurate, how the quality of the collected information could be improved, and whether the burden could be reduced.

Comments are being accepted under docket number FMCSA-2026-0991.

Hazardous Material Compliance Work Is Not Going Away

This notice does not create a new trucking regulation. However, it does show that FMCSA plans to keep this hazmat shipment communication record rule in place.

That means permit-level hazardous materials hauling will continue to involve more than just safe driving and secure transport. It will also continue to involve communication logs, stored records, and compliance paperwork.

For hazmat carriers and the commercial truck drivers who move these loads, that paperwork burden remains part of the job.