{"id":7067,"date":"2020-10-03T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.thecompliancecenter.com\/?p=7067"},"modified":"2025-09-05T09:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:08:15","slug":"correct-usage-of-a-dangerous-placard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/help-center\/articles\/correct-usage-of-a-dangerous-placard\/","title":{"rendered":"Correct Usage of a Dangerous Placard?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was originally published in April 2017 and has been updated in October 2020 for accuracy.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n

An Interesting Combination<\/h2>\n

A recent\u00a0<\/span>training class<\/span><\/a> took me to Iowa. Since it is so close to me, I decided to drive there rather than play the airport game. During the drive an old favorite song of mine came on the radio. The song is by Don Henley and called “The Boys of Summer”. In that song is the following lyric: “Out on the road today \/ I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac \/ A little voice inside my head said \/ “Don’t look back, you can never look back.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

What’s funny is shortly after hearing that song I passed an 18-wheeler truck. On the back and side of the truck was a \u201c<\/span>Dangerous<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span> placard and a “Class 5.2” placard. A picture of each is shown here. In a very simplistic sense, placards are big hazard labels, roughly 9.84 inches on each side. They are placed on vehicles to warn people about the hazardous materials on or in that vehicle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"Hazard

Hazard Class 5.2 Placard<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dangerous

Dangerous Placard<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

The 49 CFR has some unique rules for placarding, but what was on that truck struck me as interesting.\u00a0I’ve never seen those things together before.\u00a0 It is usually 1 or the other.\u00a0Being a safety nerd I checked my regulations when settled in my hotel room. Placarding information is found in Section 172.500 of the 49 CFR. Here are some specifics for placarding vehicles.<\/p>\n

Basic Rules of Placarding:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. All bulk packagings or vehicles transporting bulk packagings must be placarded on each side and end.<\/li>\n
  2. For non-bulk packages, there are two tables to consult. Both can be found in 172.504.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n