Sanitized sample | TNDS-SAMPLE-SOP-601
Cargo Tank Testing SOP: Test and Inspection Records
This cargo tank testing SOP keeps a specification cargo tank fleet's periodic test and inspection records current and keeps a tank that is past due off the road. It covers the records, the due-date calculation, the out-of-service decision, and the marking check for every test type required for the tank's specification and service under 49 CFR 180.407(c). It does not cover the tests themselves, which are performed by a registered inspector or tester, and where the procedure and 49 CFR Part 180 disagree, the regulation governs and the procedure gets corrected.
- Document type
- Standard operating procedure
- Released
- September 13, 2026
- Length
- 7 pages, PDF
What is in it
- An eleven-step procedure from the periodic register review to clearing the out-of-service flag, each step with an owner and its evidence.
- Five roles: Compliance Owner, Maintenance Owner, Registered Inspector or Tester, Dispatcher, and Approver, with the return-to-service decision held by the Approver.
- Four stop points: a test type past its due date, a failed test, an inspector's report missing required content, and specification plate markings that do not match the record.
- A report completeness check against 49 CFR 180.417(b), run on receipt while the tester is still reachable.
- A regulatory basis appendix with the general test intervals from 49 CFR 180.407(c) and the provisions on filling, marking, report content, retention, and tester registration, with a currency note.
- A records and retention table that files by unit and by test type, not by calendar year, with a plain statement of the retention trap that catches operations that file by year.
Why it is built this way
One clock per test type
The single most common records failure in a cargo tank program is treating the tank as having one due date. It does not. Each test type runs from its own last successful completion. Steps 2 and 10 exist to force the per-type calculation, and the tank register is built the same way.
The out-of-service flag lives where dispatch can see it
A compliance finding that only compliance can see is not a control. Stop point G1 requires same-day notice to dispatch, because the only thing that actually keeps a past-due tank off the road is the person assigning loads knowing it is unavailable.
The report is checked on receipt, not at audit
Step 8 checks report completeness while the tester is still reachable and the work is fresh. Operations that skip it discover incomplete reports during an audit, years later, when the tester may no longer be in business and the tank has been tested three more times.
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Citations verified September 2026
Regulations change, so confirm each citation against the current eCFR text before relying on this procedure, and record the date of that check.
Download the cargo tank testing SOP (PDF)
TNDS-SAMPLE-SOP-601, version 1.0, released September 13, 2026.
Want one built for your operation?
This sample shows the form. In an engagement, the bracketed owners, thresholds, systems, and retention periods are filled from the operation as it actually runs, walked with the crew who do the work, and sealed only after they confirm the steps match reality. It starts with an Operations Assessment.