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Manitoba Commercial: Dangerous goods, special loads, highway trains and tow trucks

Dangerous goods duties, classes and placards, documents and spill reporting, livestock, hanging meat, bulk and tank loads, highway trains and rear amplification, and tow truck rules.

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Dangerous goods, special loads, highway trains and tow trucks · Question 1Score 0/0

Who is responsible for classifying a dangerous good before it is shipped?

Study reference: MPI Professional Driver's Manual (PDF, Dec. 2025), Ch. 3 Additional information for Class 1 and Class 3 drivers — Transporting dangerous goods, Livestock, Liquids, Highway train, Tow truck

All 14 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. Who is responsible for classifying a dangerous good before it is shipped?

    1. The weigh station officer
    2. The manufacturer, or the waste generator
    3. The driver who picks it up and transports it
    4. The receiving consignee

  2. A red Class 2.1 placard indicates what kind of dangerous good?

    1. A corrosive liquid
    2. A flammable gas
    3. A non-flammable gas
    4. A radioactive material

  3. Why is hanging meat a difficult load?

    1. It has a high centre of gravity and can sway
    2. It must be delivered within one hour
    3. It must be carried with the doors open
    4. It weighs more than any other load

  4. How often must a dangerous goods training certificate be renewed?

    1. Every 24 months
    2. Every five years
    3. Every 12 months
    4. Every 36 months

  5. What do baffles in a tank compartment control?

    1. Forward and backward surge, not side-to-side
    2. The temperature of the liquid
    3. The pressure in the brake system
    4. Side-to-side surge only, not forward and backward

  6. When assembling a highway train, which trailer should be hitched to the tractor?

    1. The empty trailer
    2. The heaviest trailer
    3. The lightest trailer
    4. The longest trailer

  7. What is 'rear amplification' in a highway train?

    1. The engine noise heard from the rear
    2. Sideways movement grows toward the last trailer
    3. Extra braking force on the rear axles
    4. The rear trailer pushing the tractor uphill

  8. You leave the cab of a truck carrying dangerous goods. Where must the shipping document be?

    1. Locked in the trailer together with the goods
    2. On the seat or in the driver's door pocket
    3. In your pocket as you walk away
    4. Mailed to the consignee

  9. Whom must you notify of a dangerous goods spill in Manitoba?

    1. Only the shipper of the goods
    2. Only Manitoba Public Insurance
    3. Police or fire, and the provincial conservation department
    4. Only your dispatcher, at the end of your driving day

  10. Why must livestock haulers take curves with care?

    1. Shifting animals can change the centre of gravity
    2. Livestock trailers have no suspension
    3. Curves are banned for livestock trucks
    4. Animals need to be turned to face forward

  11. When towing a disabled vehicle with a tow truck, what is the maximum distance between them?

    1. 10 m
    2. 5 m
    3. 2 m
    4. 15 m

  12. Placards rather than labels are used on containers larger than what capacity?

    1. 1,000 litres
    2. 45 litres
    3. 454 litres
    4. 200 litres

  13. At about what level are most liquid tanks considered full?

    1. About 95 per cent of capacity
    2. About 50 per cent of capacity
    3. About 70 per cent of capacity
    4. Filled to the top hatch

  14. Which bulk load may be carried without a tarpaulin if none falls off?

    1. Sand
    2. Wood chips
    3. Gravel
    4. Snow, earth or mud

Dangerous goods, special loads, highway trains and tow trucks: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Ch. 3 Transporting dangerous goods (pp. 75–79)

  • Report any release, reportable occurrence, loss or theft of certain goods, or delayed explosives.
  • Anyone handling, offering or transporting dangerous goods must be trained or directly supervised; training certificates are renewed every 36 months.
  • The consignor supplies placards with the UN/NA number and the shipping document; the carrier displays and replaces safety marks, keeps documents two years and refuses non-compliant shipments.
  • Classification is the job of the manufacturer, or the generator for waste, before shipping.
  • Nine classes, e.g. Class 2.1 flammable gas (red), 2.2 non-flammable gas (green), 3 flammable liquids, 8 corrosives, 9 miscellaneous.
  • Labels go on small containers; placards on containers over 454 L and transport units; gasoline is UN 1203.
  • With the driver in the cab, the shipping document is within reach or in the door pocket; when out of the cab, on the seat or in the door pocket.
  • After unloading, the carrier's copy is marked "residue last contained" until the unit is cleaned or purged.
  • Placarded vehicles must stop at uncontrolled railway crossings.
  • Report spills to police or fire and, in Manitoba, the conservation department; CANUTEC is 613-996-6666 or *666 on a cellphone.

Ch. 3 Special loads (pp. 80–81)

  • Livestock haulers keep the vehicle clean and not overcrowded and use partitions to separate different species, kinds or sizes.
  • Animals shift as they balance, which can change the centre of gravity in curves.
  • Hanging meat has a high centre of gravity; take corners, speed changes and braking gently.
  • Bulk loads like sand or wood chips usually need a tarp; snow, earth or mud need not be tarped if none falls off.
  • Liquid surges forward and back in a tank when slowing; baffles reduce fore-and-aft surge but not side-to-side.
  • Partly filled tanks are hardest to control in curves; most tanks are considered full at 70% because liquids expand when heated; heavy liquids may only partly fill a tank.
  • Dry bulk tanks and hoppers have a high centre of gravity.

Ch. 3 Highway trains and tow trucks (p. 82)

  • A highway train is a tractor with more than one trailer, possibly with a converter dolly.
  • Avoid abrupt steering; rear amplification roughly doubles the tractor's sideways acceleration at the last trailer and can roll it.
  • A jackknife over 15° is almost impossible to stabilize, and the critical point can come in about a second and a half.
  • Hitch the heaviest trailer to the tractor; spread each trailer's load evenly and keep the centre of gravity low.
  • A tow truck needs Class 3 if it has more than two axles or tows over 4,540 kg, otherwise Class 5.
  • Tow trucks need an amber flashing light visible at 150 m, used only while towing or as a hazard warning at a collision.
  • The distance between a tow truck and a towed disabled vehicle must not exceed 5 m.

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