How to read a hazmat shipping paper

The steps

1. Find the paper. On a truck it is in the cab, on a train with a crew member, on an aircraft with the pilot or crew, and on a ship in a holder on the bridge.
2. Read the ID number. The four digit number with UN or NA in front of it is the way into the yellow section.
3. Read the proper shipping name. If the number is missing or damaged, the name is the way into the blue section. Check that it matches a row for the ID number.
4. Read the class. The hazard class or division follows the name; any subsidiary hazards follow it in parentheses.
5. Note the packing group and quantity. The Roman numeral is the packing group, I for the greatest danger. The quantity tells you how big the spill could be.
6. Find the emergency number. An emergency response telephone number, monitored at all times, is printed with the description or once on the paper where it is easy to find.

Worked example: a line with a subsidiary hazard

This is one line in our own layout, the way the drill shows it:

1. UN1093 is the ID number. On page 30 of the yellow section it is Acrylonitrile, stabilized, Guide 131P, and the row is highlighted in green.
2. The class reads 3 (6.1): a flammable liquid, class 3, that is also toxic, division 6.1.
3. Packing group I: the greatest degree of danger within its class.
4. Green means Table 1. For a small spill by day: Table 1, small spill: isolate 30 m in all directions, then protect 0.2 km downwind by day.

Notice that the class alone would have sent you somewhere else: a class 3 placard points to Guide 127 in the placard table, while the ID number gives Guide 131P. The guide's P warns of polymerization.

What the order tells you

The regulations fix the order of the basic description: ID number, proper shipping name, class, packing group. Knowing the order lets you read a crowded or damaged paper quickly. The class may be written with the word Class or Division in front, and the packing group may be written with PG in front, as in PG II. A combustible liquid may show no class at all.

The emergency response number

Every hazardous materials shipment must carry a numeric emergency response telephone number, monitored the whole time the material is in transport, answered by someone who knows the material or can reach someone who does. It is printed right after the description, or once on the paper in a way that stands out. Calling it is one of the first actions in every orange guide.

Common mistakes

• Reading the quantity or a contract number as the ID number. The ID number has UN or NA in front of it.
• Ignoring the subsidiary hazards in parentheses.
• Taking the class from the placard when the paper names the material. The paper, through the ID number, is more specific.
• Going into the cab of a leaking vehicle to fetch the paper without thinking about the hazard first.

Shipping paper scenarios are part of the daily drill. For what comes after the ID number, read UN numbers and guide numbers.

Sources

Checked on 27 September 2026. Everything here is said in our own words; the guidebook's text is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Where your instructor, your employer's plan or the current printed guidebook says something different, follow them.

• 2024 Emergency Response Guidebook, Shipping Papers (inside front cover). Where the shipping paper is kept and what it gives: ID number, proper shipping name, class, packing group and the emergency number; opened 27 September 2026.
• 49 CFR 172.202, description of hazardous material on shipping papers (eCFR text as of 1 September 2026). ID number, proper shipping name, class with subsidiaries in parentheses, packing group in Roman numerals, total quantity; opened 27 September 2026.
• 49 CFR 172.604, emergency response telephone number (eCFR text as of 1 September 2026). A monitored number on the shipping paper, reachable at all times the material is in transportation; opened 27 September 2026.
• Hazardous Materials Table, 49 CFR 172.101 (eCFR text as of 1 September 2026). The hazard class and subsidiary hazards of every material in the drill set; opened 27 September 2026.
• Placardset's grader. Every example on this page is computed by the drill's own data and grading at build time, and pinned by a test.