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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department plans to require hazardous materials haulers to provide communications systems for drivers to ensure the safety of their loads, an official of the Research and Special Programs Administration told a transportation forum here last week.

Speaking on hazardous materials regulation before a session of the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Douglas Reeves, a RSPA engineer, said the agency was studying requiring both simple and "more elaborate" communications systems for drivers.

Speaking only in general terms, Reeves said, "There are two categories. One is [like a] cell phone that will give them some way to communicate."