Top Five Most Hazardous Lorry Loads

Most lorry drivers transport ordinary goods to their destination, pickup their backload if they've arranged one, and drive back. Most will need some kind of identification, even if it's only a name tag, or possibly a security pass. Few will need armed guards or refractive armour, but some do, and these are the truck and lorry drivers that transport hazardous and life threatening loads.

5. Toxic and Very Toxic

Many products and items in every day life have toxic elements or chemicals in them, but are rendered inert by their combinations, compounds and mixtures. Still, there is a definite need for businesses and factories to be provided with some toxic and very toxic chemicals. The sign for these is skull and crossbones - rarely a good thing - and you'll find this on the side of more lorries than you might think. The difference between toxic and very toxic is denoted by a small "T+" on the sign, but either way it's not a good idea to play about with these kinds of materials.

4. Weapons and Missiles

The army has an entire corps of lorry drivers and flatbed hauliers, most carrying innocent enough loads and backloads, including medical supplies, food and stationery. However, they also move ground to air rapier missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles, 30mm chain gun ammo, HESH rounds and 120mm shells. Not the sort of thing you want involved in a pileup on the motorway. The army is careful with its haulage, but it certainly ranks high on the list of dangerous and hazardous loads.

3. Bio Hazard loads

You'd think that guns and ammo would be higher on our list than number three, but there are potentially much worse haulage loads to be transporting. Biohazard waste and active substances are classified into levels one to four, with four being the worst or most hazardous. Level one loads might be chicken pox or similar substances and are handled with gloves. However, level four substances are incredibly infectious, highly dangerous and usually need full hazmat suits to be handled. Loads that are labelled as bio hazards are very dangerous to transport, but are very import for scientific, medical and research purposes.

2. Nuclear loads

The last and two most hazardous types of haulage on our list are unlikely to be taken on the usual commercial carriers. It's highly unlikely that you could pick up a backload when dealing with substances that are radioactive, so these types of haulage are also unlikely to be taken on freelance. Nuclear loads (which can include fuel rods, waste or weapons grade radioactive materials) need very specific types of carrier to withstand both the radiation and any possibility of highjack.

1. Chemically and Biologically harmful loads

Schedule 1 chemical and biological substances are incredibly harmful to human, animal and plant life. Some of the substances are so virulent and destructive that only a small amount could wipe out all life in a large radius of any contamination. Worse even than nuclear spills or meltdowns, these substances can mutate and spread into water supplies, and through entire populations and across the world in a very short space of time. So moving them around the country in a regular lorry is probably not going to happen. This type of haulage is usually accompanied by armed guards and high security - with good reason.

Lyall Cresswell is the Website manager for The Transport Exchange Group. Their exchange for haulage operators, Haulage Exchange, offers exchanges and backloads for their clients with strict quality control to ensure smooth exchanges.

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