Hazmat placard and UN number lookup

Where the data comes from

Every entry comes from the Hazardous Materials Table in 49 CFR 172.101, the federal list of regulated materials. For each one it gives the proper shipping name, the hazard class or division, the identification number, the packing group, the labels and special provisions. Source The date of the copy used is shown under the result. Always check the entry against the shipping papers, which carry the shipper's description and emergency response information.

Reading trucking placards

• Class number at the bottom of the diamond: 3 for flammable liquids, 8 for corrosives, 2 for gases and so on.
• Four-digit number on the placard or an orange panel: the UN or NA identification number. Bulk packagings such as cargo tanks show it; many non-bulk loads don't.
• Packing group on the papers, not the placard: I is great danger, II medium, III minor.

The lookup turns the class into a placard using the placarding tables, and adds the extra placards the rules require: POISON INHALATION HAZARD for materials poisonous by inhalation, and DANGEROUS WHEN WET for a material with that as a subsidiary hazard. Source Table 1 placards apply at any quantity. Source

1993 hazmat placard meaning

1993 is one of the most common numbers on the road. UN1993 is Flammable liquids, n.o.s. NA1993 covers diesel fuel, fuel oil and combustible liquid, n.o.s. Source Diesel under NA1993 is Class 3, Packing Group III. In a cargo tank it carries placards and the number; in small packages under the Table 2 threshold it may carry none.

Diesel: NA1993 or UN1202

Search for diesel and the table returns two entries. NA1993, Diesel fuel, is the domestic entry, marked D. UN1202, Diesel fuel, is the international entry, marked I. Both are Class 3, Packing Group III. A tank of diesel delivered inside the United States usually shows 1993; one bound for Canada or Mexico may show 1202. The shipper picks the description, and the placards and numbers on the tank must match the papers.

Packing groups and why they matter

The packing group ranks danger within a class: I is great danger, II medium and III minor. It doesn't change which placard a load takes, but it changes packaging, quantity limits and some segregation rules. A Division 6.1 poison in Packing Group I, Hazard Zone A, for example, can't share a trailer with flammable liquids or corrosive liquids at all. The lookup shows the packing group next to each entry, so you can see it before you accept the load.

Worked example EXAMPLE

A driver is offered a tanker load described as UN1005, anhydrous ammonia. The lookup returns two entries: a domestic one in Division 2.2 and an international one in Division 2.3, poisonous by inhalation. Domestically the load takes NON-FLAMMABLE GAS placards and the number on the tank, and the driver needs the hazmat endorsement, and usually the tank endorsement too. Crossing a border can change the description and placards, so the papers decide.

Symbols in the table

• D marks an entry for domestic transport only.
• I marks an entry for international transport.
• G means the technical name must be added in parentheses after a general name, as with many n.o.s. entries.

Placards trucking companies get wrong

• Wrong number after a product change. A tanker switching from gasoline to diesel must change its numbers to match.
• Missing the inhalation hazard placard. It goes on in addition to the class placard.
• Relying on memory. Look up unfamiliar numbers every time; similar numbers mean very different materials.

The emergency response guide

Responders look up the identification number in the PHMSA Emergency Response Guidebook to find the guide for the first minutes of an incident. Keep a current copy in the cab, as many carriers require, and check the edition year on the cover when a new one comes out. This tool doesn't replace it; it tells you what you are hauling and how the truck must be marked.

When you dispatch with us, your endorsements and tank equipment are on your rig card, and we check every hazmat load against them before we call. See our hazmat tanker dispatch and dispatch for owner-operators, or send an application.