Shipping papers, emergency response information, and communication requirements
What the paper must show
Every hazmat shipment needs a shipping paper whose basic description appears in a fixed order: proper shipping name, hazard class or division, UN/NA identification number, and packing group - for example, "Acetone, 3, UN1090, PG II." Add the total quantity and the number and type of packages, plus notations the rules require: RQ for reportable quantities, Marine Pollutant, Hot for elevated-temperature material, and Poison-Inhalation Hazard or Toxic-Inhalation Hazard with the hazard zone where applicable.
Emergency response information
The paper must carry a 24-hour emergency response telephone number monitored at all times by someone knowledgeable, and emergency response information - usually the ERG guide number and page, or an equivalent. It must be immediately available to the driver and to responders.
Access while driving
The shipping paper must be within the driver's reach while driving, or in a pouch on the driver's door, and visible to anyone entering the cab. It goes on top of the other papers so it can be handed over instantly. Carriers keep copies 375 days; shippers keep them two years.
Worked example
A paper reads "UN1993, Flammable liquid, n.o.s. (ethanol), 3, PG II, 1,500 lb." The order is wrong - the identification number must follow the class, not lead. Correct version: "Flammable liquid, n.o.s. (ethanol), 3, UN1993, PG II, 1,500 lb, 3 drums."
Traps that cost marks
Listing an office number that nobody answers at 2 a.m.; treating the ERG guide number as optional; locking papers in a sleeper box or console out of reach; forgetting the hazard-zone notation on an inhalation-hazard load.