First certificate in the books!
These past few weeks have been full of school stuff. I have learned a great deal, and I can feel my hunger to learn more grows.One of the things I have to learn, is ADR. "But Philipsen. what is ADR specifically?", I hear someone ask.. Well.. ADR stands for Accord Dangereux Routier (European regulations concerning the international transport of dangerous goods by road), and basically what it means, is that any driver who has the ADR certificate, can move dangerous goods, up to a certain amount. I haven't been told the exact maximum you can haul with an ADR license, but it's up to 1000 points. How those points are distributed, I am not sure. I will know more later.
Yesterday was my first introduction to ADR, and I was told, that I would get a test today. If I passed it, I would have ADR 1.3. That means, I am allowed to ride along with someone who hauls dangerous goods, like fuel, dynamite, fireworks, paint and smoke detectors. Fun fact: Did you know that some smoke detectors are radioactive? It's due to americium-241, an isotope with a half-life of 432.2 years. The amount of radiation those smoke detectors emit is about 1/100 of a millirem per year. This is well below the background radiation level of about 360 millirems a year. If a smoke detector contains radioactive materials, a printed notice on the packaging will say so.
Anyway, the test was set to last for 45 minutes, but my group was done after about 30. We had a book to look in, so it made it much easier. Then the teacher went through each question, and everyone passed. That means, I am now ADR 1.3 certified, so if my work experience company hauls dangerous goods of any kind, I am allowed to join the person on the trip.
Very exciting times ahead!