§397.5(a) requires that a motor vehicle containing Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 (explosive) hazardous materials be attended at all times by its driver or a qualified representative. §397.5(b) extends a more limited attendance requirement to other hazardous materials at certain locations. §397.5(c) defines "attended" — the person is awake, not in the sleeper berth, and within 100 feet of the vehicle with an unobstructed view of it, or in the vehicle itself.
Severity weight
Severity weight 7 in the HM Compliance BASIC. The cite is consequential because the rule defends against the highest-consequence HM incidents — an unattended load of Class 1 in a populated area is the failure mode the §397 series was written to prevent.
How it gets cited
The two patterns: (1) the driver leaves the vehicle for a meal or a rest period at a location not designated as a safe haven and without arranging a qualified representative; (2) the qualified-representative arrangement does not meet §397.5(c) — the substitute is not within 100 feet, not awake, or not aware they are responsible for the load.
How to prevent it
- Plan HM routes around designated safe havens (§397.7); attended-load requirements apply between safe havens.
- Train every driver on what "qualified representative" means — informal arrangements are §397.5 cites waiting to happen.
- For Class 1 loads, build the trip plan around continuous attendance — there is no driver meal break that satisfies §397.5(a) at a roadside.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
A §397.5 citation lands on the driver. Roadworthy HQ does not record individual violation codes, pull CSA or SMS scores, or track coaching. What it keeps is the driver file an auditor opens next: the annual MVR and the §391.25 annual review, each with reminders 60, 30, and 7 days out, and the qualification-file documents with their retention periods enforced. If the citation came from a roadside inspection, log that inspection on the vehicle (date, state, level, driver, number of violations, out-of-service or not). Record the hazmat endorsement on the driver's profile. Roadworthy HQ has no separate record type for §172.704 hazmat training, so keep those certificates with your training files.