The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a safety advisory concerning pressure relief devices (PRD) that were not manufactured for or intended for use on cargo tank motor vehicles. These devices were installed on MC330/331 cargo tanks.
Pressure-relief devices are an integral part of the safety mechanisms for US Department of Transportation (DOT) specification cargo tank motor vehicles and are vital to ensuring the safety of hazardous materials transportation by highway.
In 2013, Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Inc issued a voluntary recall on Fisher Control pressure relief devices models H732 and H832. In 2014, the recall was expanded to include models H282, H882, H5112, and H8112. After a recent crash involving a MC330 cargo tank motor vehicle, FMCSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators discovered that one of the PRDs installed on the cargo tank motor vehicle was a Fisher Controls model H282.
All owners and operators of specification MC330 or MC331 cargo tank motor vehicles, and cargo tank motor vehicles operated pursuant to 49 CFR §173.315(k), should immediately inspect their PRDs for these Fisher Controls model numbers. If any of the listed models are discovered, the cargo tank motor vehicle must be taken out of hazardous materials transportation service and the PRD must be immediately removed and replaced. Continued use of these PRDs is a violation of 49 CFR §180.405 and a safety concern.
Registered Inspectors and companies that maintain stocks of Fisher Control PRDs should take all necessary steps to ensure the model numbers listed above are not used for hazardous materials transportation service. Model numbers are located on the PRD as shown above.
For more information, or questions concerning this Safety Advisory, please contact Paul Bomgardner, chief, Hazardous Materials Division, at (202)493-0027, or by email at [email protected].