BOE Membership Benefits

The Bureau of Explosives (BOE) is a unique membership organization dedicated to helping carriers, shippers, and container manufacturers continually improve hazardous materials transportation safety. All Members of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) are automatically Members of the BOE.  Associate BOE Memberships are also available to:

• Hazardous materials producers and shippers

• Container manufacturing, repair, or reconditioning companies

• Rail, highway, pipeline, and marine carriers of hazardous materials

• Anyone interested in the safe transportation and storage of hazardous materials

Benefits of BOE Membership include:

• One complimentary copy of the BOE’s reprint of 49 CFR, the BOE Tariff 6000 Series (including three quarterly updates), sent to a Member's headquarters facility

• Reduced registration fees for the annual AAR/BOE Hazardous Materials Seminar

• Reduced fees for regulatory compliance audits (US, Canada, and Mexico) not to include mechanical activities.

• Reduced fees for training services

• Access to regulatory consulting services

• Reduced prices for BOE Publications – www.boepublications.com

Associate BOE Memberships are available for one, two or three year periods, with membership period beginning upon receipt of payment rather than by calendar year. See our Department Fees page for current pricing information regarding Associate BOE Memberships. 

Major services available to BOE Members include the following:

Railroads

• Training for employees to meet or exceed federal requirements of 49 CFR 172.704

• Inspections of rail yards to ensure that railcars are being accepted for transportation in accordance with DOT regulations.  BOE Inspectors follow up with shippers to correct deficiencies

• Independent, confidential regulatory compliance audits for placarding, car placement, documentation, and other requirements

• Monthly electronic updates of hazardous materials shipping descriptions and commodity specific emergency response information for use on shipping papers in conformance with federal regulations

Hazardous Materials Shippers

• Training in the regulations, including proper preparation of shipping papers, marking, labeling, placarding, and packaging selection

• Training for safe loading and unloading of railcars and other containers

• Independent, unbiased, confidential inspections of loading, unloading, and shipping operations to evaluate regulatory compliance status and opportunities for safety improvement.  Inspection results are not shared with any other organization.  

• Hazardous materials safety problem solving and consulting 

• Quality Assurance Audits as prescribed by the AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, Specification M-1003

• Certification and re-certification inspections of tank car facilities to ensure compliance with the AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, Specification M-1002

All BOE Members may request consulting services to meet special needs, such as:

• Risk management

• Special training for safe loading and unloading of tank cars

• Testing and training for blocking and bracing of hazardous materials shipments in trailers and containers

• Emergency response plan development

• Hazardous materials safety research

• Packaging selection

• Regulatory compliance auditing and safety benchmarking

See our Department Fees page for current pricing information regarding various BOE activities.

To become an Associate BOE Member or for more information, please call 719-584-7151, email boeadm@aar.com, or complete this form
For information about AAR Membership, please contact Kelly Donley at 202-639-2343 or email kdonley@aar.org