Emergency rule mandates training and maintenance for tanker trucks
Mexico has brought a new emergency standard into force for the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (Gas LP, comparable to LPG) by tanker truck. The standard, NOM-EM-009-ASEA-2026, was published on 5 October 2026 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, Mexico’s official gazette, and has applied since 6 October 2026 for a period of six months. It was issued by the Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Industrial y de Protección al Medio Ambiente del Sector Hidrocarburos, known as ASEA: Mexico’s regulator for industrial safety and environmental protection in the hydrocarbons sector.
The standard requires distribution companies to run an annual theoretical-practical training programme for tanker truck support staff and for delivery van drivers and support staff. Tanker truck drivers must also hold the EC1354 certificate and complete a three-year refresher programme. Training must be provided by external trainers authorised and registered with Mexico’s labour ministry (STPS). Companies must keep an up-to-date personal file for each employee, with training certificates no older than one year and refresher certificates no older than three years.
Oversight must put safety above production pressure
Besides training and certification, the standard sets requirements for vehicles, equipment and operational procedures. Storage, driving and unloading systems and vehicle condition must be checked periodically for potential leak points and ignition sources, and a safety check must take place before every trip or operation. Valves, connections, hoses, shut-off systems and safety devices fall under preventive maintenance, with periodic wear checks. A vehicle found to have defects may not return to the road until repaired. According to trade platform Prevencionar, managers must ensure that safety takes priority over operational or production pressure. ASEA oversees compliance, including through accredited inspection bodies. The standard gives STPS no inspection powers of its own, but according to IDC Online, employers should bear in mind that STPS can check whether the training obligations are being met.
Context
The new standard builds on NOM-EM-007-ASEA-2025, an earlier emergency standard for Gas LP distribution that appeared in the official gazette on 3 October 2025. There is also a separate emergency standard for the transport of Gas LP (NOM-EM-008-ASEA-2026). Mexican media at the time linked the 2025 emergency standards to the explosion of a Gas LP tanker truck in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City on 10 September 2025, which killed at least 31 people and injured dozens more. The text of the new standard does not mention that disaster and refers only in general terms to “several accidents”. Internationally, bodies including the US pipeline and hazardous materials regulator PHMSA and European ADR hazardous-goods regulations impose comparable requirements for the training, inspection and maintenance of LPG tanker trucks, as standard links in the safety chain for liquefied gas.
The Mexican approach places the emphasis on training, certification and maintenance, not solely on technical requirements for equipment. For other countries with a sizeable LPG distribution sector, that is a familiar pattern: human factors such as training and supervision weigh at least as heavily in practice as the condition of the equipment itself in preventing leaks, fires and explosions during loading, unloading and transport.
Source: Mexico publishes new emergency standard to strengthen safety in Gas LP distribution, 12 October 2026
Additional research: IDC Online (“Distribuyes Gas LP: es obligatorio capacitar a tu personal”, 6 October 2026), Diario Oficial de la Federación (NOM-EM-009-ASEA-2026, 5 October 2026), Factor Energético (7 October 2026), Por Esto (coverage of Gas LP emergency standards, 4 October 2025)
