Be Part of the Ultimate Safety & Compliance Community
Trending news, knowledge-building content, and more – all personalized to you!
Although there are exceptions, the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) generally require each shipment of hazardous materials to be accompanied by properly prepared shipping papers. The shipping paper may be a bill of lading, waybill, manifest, or other document provided it contains all the required information.
All carriers are required by the HMR to accompany each shipment of hazardous materials with properly prepared shipping papers. Any person who offers a shipment of hazardous materials for transport must describe the hazardous material on shipping papers in a specified manner.
The regulations provide general requirements as to shipping paper format and entries, as well as special documentation requirements for particular modes of transport.
Exceptions. As established in 172.200 and 173.6, shipping papers are not required for a material, unless it is a hazardous substance, hazardous waste, or marine pollutant, that:
In addition, shipping papers are not required for materials transported as Materials of Trade, as specified in 173.6.
Retention. Hazardous materials shipping papers must be retained. This may be a paper copy or an electronic image of the shipping paper. See Shipping Paper Retention for more information on this topic.
Hazardous/Non-hazardous materials. Whenever a shipping paper includes descriptions of both a hazardous material and a non-hazardous material, the description of the hazardous material must be:
Any of the above three methods may be used. The general intent of the regulations is that the shipping paper point out the fact that hazardous materials are listed and that the information can be quickly and easily identified in case of an emergency.
Note: On a reproduction of the shipping paper, the hazardous material description may be highlighted in a contrasting color.
Additional information. The shipping paper may contain additional information pertaining to the material. Unless otherwise permitted or required by the regulations, this information may be entered on the shipping paper provided:
Describing hazardous materials. The description of hazardous materials on shipping papers must be as prescribed in the regulations. The description requirements are the same whether hazardous materials are alone or both hazardous and non-hazardous materials are entered on the papers.
Each hazardous material that will be offered for transport must be clearly described on the shipping paper using the applicable information from the Hazardous Materials Table. This shipping description must include the:
Basic description. The first five (5) items — often referred to as the material’s basic description — must be shown in sequence, with no additional information interspersed unless authorized by the regulations. The identification number must include the letters “UN” or “NA” or “ID,” as appropriate. The packing group must be shown in Roman numerals and may be preceded by the letters “PG.”
Examples.
The regulations allow that if a “technical name” is required, it may be entered between the proper shipping name and the hazard class or following the basic description.
Examples. UN 1760, Corrosive Liquid, n.o.s. (caprylyl chloride), 8, PG II or UN 1760, Corrosive Liquid, n.o.s., 8, PG II, (caprylyl chloride)
A modifier (such as “contains” or “containing”) and/or the percentage of the hazardous component may be included, if appropriate.
Example. UN1993, Flammable liquids, n.o.s. (contains Xylene, Benzene), 3, II
Total quantity. The total quantity of a hazardous material must be indicated. This can be by mass, volume, activity for Class 7, or net explosive mass for Class 1. The appropriate unit of measure must be included.
The total quantity is not required for hazardous material packaging containing only residue, for cylinders, and for bulk packages. However, some indication of total quantity must be shown for cylinders and bulk packagings.
Example. 10 cylinders or 1 cargo tank
The material’s total quantity — may be placed either before, after, or both before and after the basic description.
Examples:
Number and type of packages. The number and type of packages must be indicated, such as 12 drums. The packaging specification number may be included in the description, such as 12 1H1 drums or 12 drums (1H1). Commonly accepted and recognizable abbreviations may be used for indicating packaging types, such as “cyl.” for cylinders.
Examples:
Shipper’s certification. Another required entry on the shipping paper is a certification by the shipper that the shipment is properly classed, described, packed, marked and labeled and in proper condition for transport by a particular mode.
Except for a hazardous waste, this “shipper’s certification,” is not required:
The shipper’s certification must be printed manually or mechanically on the shipping paper. The certification must be legibly signed by a principal, officer, partner, or employee of the shipper or his agent. The signature may be manual, by typewriter, or by other mechanical means. PHMSA, in explaining the signature requirements, has noted that a “pre-printed signature is deficient,” basically because such a signature is made before the conditions and acts actually exist to which the signature and certification apply.
The regulations specify the wording required for the shipper’s certification. There is a general certification, an alternate for air transport, and a specified statement for radioactive material to be shipped by passenger-carrying aircraft. See 172.204 for examples of these certifications.
Additional shipping paper notations.
Notice to train crews. The train crew must have a document that reflects the current position in the train of each rail car containing a hazardous material. The train crew must update the document to indicate changes in the placement of a rail car within the train. For example, the train crew may update the document by handwriting on it or by appending or attaching another document to it.
Notification of pilot-in-command. The operator of an aircraft carrying a hazardous material must give the pilot-in-command the following information, in writing, prior to departure:
A copy of each notification of pilot-in-command, and electronic image thereof, or the information contained therein must be retained for 90 days at the airport of departure or the operator’s principal place of business.
Additional documentation (Water). A carrier by water vessel may not accept a shipment of hazardous materials unless the material has been properly described on the shipping papers and the shipper has certified that the packages have been properly prepared for shipment under the HMR. For import and export shipments that will not be transported by rail, air, or highway, the shipper may use the usual shipper’s certification statement – or certify that the hazardous material is properly classed, labeled, marked, described and packaged in accordance with the IMDG Code.
Dangerous cargo manifest. A dangerous cargo manifest, list or stowage plan must be prepared for vessel transport of hazardous materials. This document must be on or near the vessel’s bridge, except when docked in a U.S. port. When in a U.S. port, this document may be kept in the vessel’s cargo office or another location designated by the master of the vessel, provided that a sign is placed beside the designated holder on or near the vessel’s bridge indicating the location of the document. Each carrier who transports or stores hazardous materials aboard a vessel must retain a copy of the dangerous cargo manifest, list or stowage plan for one year.
The individual who supervises the preparation of the manifest, list or stowage plan must ensure the accuracy of the information and so certify by affixing his signature and noting the date of preparation on the document. A second signature is also required by the master or a licensed deck officer designated by the master. This signature acknowledges the correctness of the data on the manifest, list or stowage plan.
The following information is required on the dangerous cargo manifest, list or stowage plan:
Additional documentation (Highway). Unless excepted by the regulations, a carrier by highway may not transport a hazardous material unless the shipment is accompanied by a properly prepared shipping paper.
Shipping paper accessibility (Highway). The driver of a vehicle transporting hazardous materials and each carrier using such vehicles must ensure that the hazardous materials shipping papers are readily available to, and recognizable by, authorities in the event of an accident or required inspection.
The following specific requirements are for hazardous materials shipping papers accompanying a shipment of hazardous materials:
Interlining with rail. Whenever a motor carrier offers or delivers a freight container or transport vehicle to a rail carrier for further transport, the motor carrier must add these entries to the shipping paper accompanying the shipment of hazardous materials:
Proof of registration. Motor carriers subject to the registration requirements must carry, onboard each vehicle transporting a hazardous material requiring registration:
For more information on the registration program see Registration program.
Emergency response information. Emergency response information specific to the hazardous materials being transported must be presented on the shipping paper or in a separate document in conjunction with the shipping paper. The following information is required, as a minimum:
See Emergency response information for more information on this topic.
Emergency response telephone number. An emergency response telephone number must be entered immediately after the description of the hazardous material, or it may be entered once on the shipping paper in a clearly visible location and indicated that it is for emergency response information. This second option can be used only if the telephone number applies to each hazardous material entered on the shipping paper.
See Emergency Response Telephone Number for more information on this topic.