Ministry of Transport Inspection and Guidance Group Discovers Passenger Vehicles Illegally Carrying Hazardous Materials During On-site and Undercover Inspections in Shaanxi

During the Spring Festival travel rush, the Transportation Ministry Inspection and Guidance Team (referred to as the Inspection and Guidance Team) visited Shaanxi to conduct major risk hidden danger investigations and rectification work for transportation safety production during the 2026 Spring Festival travel period. They visited 10 counties (districts) under Xi’an and Hanzhong, conducting both overt and covert inspections. A total of 28 enterprises and units were checked and guided, revealing 46 issues and hidden dangers, including 1 major hidden danger and 2 prominent problems.

During an inspection at Shaanxi Tourism Automobile Co., Ltd., the team found that a passenger vehicle, “Shaanxi ADT281,” was carrying butane gas cylinders explicitly listed as prohibited items for road passenger transport in the luggage compartment. The cylinder was unused, with high internal pressure, and vehicle bumps could loosen the valve or damage the cylinder, leading to gas leaks. In a sealed luggage compartment, butane gas could accumulate and, if there were electrical faults or static electricity, could cause explosions and fires, posing serious risks of injury, death, and property loss. According to Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the “Standards for Major Accident Hidden Danger Identification in Road Transport and Urban Passenger Transport Enterprises (Trial),” if a road passenger transport enterprise illegally carries or transports dangerous goods, it should be deemed a major hidden danger.

The Inspection and Guidance Team also identified prominent issues in road transportation and construction. For example, at Hanzhong Passenger Transport Hub, the vehicle “Shaanxi F67508” had a damaged emergency escape window on the rear roof and a missing fire extinguisher on the driver’s side, yet vehicle inspection reports indicated the vehicle was in normal condition. The Yanchang County Xushui Bridge reconstruction project on National Highway 108 had issues such as insufficient steel protective sleeves at the connection between the roadbed and main trestle according to design requirements, and steel sheet pile enclosures at the abutments not built as specified.

Furthermore, the team found that some supervisory departments did not conduct thorough risk hidden danger investigations. The Hantai District Transportation Bureau in Hanzhong City lacked clear records of local enterprises, and safety inspections were not comprehensive, with discrepancies between system-entered information and summary ledgers. In highway management, issues included inconsistent technical condition ratings in the maintenance report for the Shiheying Bridge on National Highway 108, unclear management responsibilities, and unaddressed cracks and gaps in multiple bearings.

Experts from the Inspection and Guidance Team stated that these issues indicate that enterprises and supervisory departments have not thoroughly or effectively carried out risk hidden danger investigations and rectifications, with inadequate implementation of safety responsibilities and weak safety management links. The team has handed over the list of hidden dangers to provincial management authorities, urging all units and relevant departments to fully implement deployment requirements, strengthen the main responsibility for safety production, learn from issues, make immediate corrections, and continuously deepen the entire process of risk hidden danger investigation and rectification management.

Author: Wei Junyi

Editor: Zhang Mengyi

Reviewer: Lian Meng

Supervising Editor: Chen Lin