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Hazardous materials placards correspond very closely with the shape, color, and design of hazardous materials labels. However, placards are much larger than labels. Placards alert persons to the potential dangers associated with the particular hazardous material contained in a motor vehicle, rail car, freight container, cargo tanks, and portable tanks.
Scope
Anyone offering or accepting hazardous materials for shipment in an amount that requires placards must ensure the material is placarded according to the applicable sections of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).
Regulatory citations
- 49 CFR Part 172 Subpart F — Placarding
Key definitions
- Freight container: A reusable container having a volume of 64 cubic feet or more, designed and constructed to permit being lifted with its contents intact and intended primarily for containment of packages (in unit form) during transportation.
- Rail car: A car designed to carry freight or non-passenger personnel by rail, and includes a box car, flat car, gondola car, hopper car, tank car, and occupied caboose.
- Residue: The hazardous material remaining in a packaging, including a tank car, after its contents have been unloaded to the maximum extent practicable and before the packaging is either refilled or cleaned of hazardous material and purged to remove any hazardous vapors.
- Subsidiary hazard: The hazard of a material other than the primary hazard.
- Transport vehicle: A cargo-carrying vehicle such as an automobile, van, tractor, truck, semitrailer, tank car, or rail car used for the transportation of cargo by any mode. Each cargo-carrying body (trailer, rail car, etc.) is a separate transport vehicle.
- Unit load device: Any type of freight container, aircraft container, aircraft pallet with a net, or aircraft pallet with a net over an igloo.
Summary of requirements
Responsibility for affixing or supplying placards varies according to the mode of transport and the type of packaging used to transport the hazardous material.
Placards may be displayed for a hazardous material, even when not required, if the placarding conforms to the regulations.
Placarding requirements vary according to the category of the material (hazard class, division, packing group, or description) being transported and the type of packaging (bulk or non-bulk) containing the material. Table 1 and Table 2 must be referred to when determining placarding requirements.Placards must meet certain specifications for durability, design, size, and color.
Placard placement varies depending on the packaging size or vehicle being used.