If you run a bobtail, the federal rule already applies to you. The only question is whether the plan exists on paper.
Under 49 CFR 172.800(b)(3), a company that offers for transportation or transports a large bulk quantity of a Division 2.1 flammable gas — propane — must develop and adhere to a written security plan. DOT sets that bulk threshold at more than 3,000 liters — 792 gallons — of hazmat in a single packaging. A bobtail clears it. So does a transport.
Ten seconds and you know the answer. Most owners do.
Ask for the intake form Or call 610-228-0887 and ask for Bill.
What the rule actually asks you for
Your written plan has to address three areas and be specific to your operation:
- Personnel security — how you vet the people you put behind the wheel and in the plant.
- Unauthorized access — who can reach the trucks, the keys, and the bulk storage, and how you keep everyone else out.
- En route security — how the load stays secure between your plant and the customer's tank.
Two more pieces bite people:
- The plan must be reviewed at least once a year and revised when your operation changes.
- In-depth security training for hazmat employees has to be done and documented at least every three years, on top of the general hazmat training your drivers already carry with the CDL hazmat endorsement.
If you cannot put your hand on the date either one was last done, that is the call to make.
How this actually goes
- You get one intake form. Your plant, your trucks, your keys and gates, your hiring practice, your routes.
- You spend about an hour on it. Owner or safety man. No site visit, no meetings.
- We write the plan to your operation — not a template with your name in the header. Built within a week of your completed form.
- You get a print-ready plan, plus the training-documentation pages, ready to hand to a DOT investigator or an insurance auditor.
One form. About an hour. That is your whole side of it.
This is the pair most operators buy
The security plan and the Policies & Procedures manual get asked for together, so we build them together off the same intake. Your driver's day is already regulated end to end — the daily pre-trip on the bobtail, the placards, the emergency response information on board, the leak test after any interruption of service. The two books are what say, in writing, that your company runs it that way.
Add the SDS / HazCom binder if OSHA paperwork is the next thing on your list.
Straight answers
Do I need one?
If you offer for transportation or transport more than 792 gallons of propane in a single cargo tank, yes. If you are cylinder-only and small, call us and we will tell you honestly — we would rather say "you do not need this" than sell you a book.
How much of my time?
About an hour, on one form.
How fast?
Built within a week of your completed form.
I have a plan from years ago.
Send it. The annual review is part of the rule. We will tell you what is stale and whether it needs a rewrite or a refresh.
Who wrote yours?
An operator's team, not a generic compliance shop. See below.
What does it cost?
Depends on your operation and how many documents you need. Call and we will tell you straight. 610-228-0887.
Who builds it
Bill Stomp started running one propane location and grew to 87 branch offices across 12 states over a 25-year career, combat veteran. He has since helped 200+ fuel companies.
He did not consult on propane. He ran it. He has signed the payroll, worked the winter, and stood in the room when a state inspector asked for paper nobody could find.
Carriers read your file before they write your policy. Propane Safety Pro is recommended by Aegis, eMaxx Assurance Group, and Nationwide.
Three trucks or thirty, the file has to hold up the same way.
Get the security plan written.
Tell us what you haul and what you have on paper now. We will tell you what the rule asks of you and what we would build. If it is not a fit, we will say so.
Ask for the intake form — one form, about an hour
Or call 610-228-0887 and ask for Bill.
Propane Safety Pro · Digital Software Services, LLC · 112 Holby Lane, Pottstown, PA 19465