Hazmat placard tables 1 and 2.

Two tables, two quantity rules

The placarding rule in 49 CFR 172.504(a) says that each bulk packaging, freight container, unit load device, transport vehicle or rail car containing any quantity of a hazardous material must be placarded on each side and each end with the placards listed in Tables 1 and 2 of 172.504(e). Table 1 is the short list of the most dangerous categories, and a vehicle carrying any amount of a Table 1 material needs the placard. Table 2 lists everything else, and it comes with an exception: on a highway or rail transport vehicle, placards are not required for Table 2 materials when the aggregate gross weight is less than 454 kg (1,001 pounds) (172.504(c)). The exception does not cover bulk packagings, and it does not cover materials subject to 172.505 subsidiary hazard placarding.

Table 1: placard at any quantity

Table 2: placard at 1,001 pounds or more, or any bulk packaging

The DANGEROUS placard and mixed loads

A freight container, unit load device, transport vehicle or rail car holding non-bulk packages with two or more Table 2 categories that need different placards may display a DANGEROUS placard instead of the separate placards (172.504(b)). There is a limit: when 1,000 kg (2,205 pounds) aggregate gross weight or more of one category is loaded at one loading facility, the placard for that category must be applied. For Class 1 explosives, when more than one division placard is required on a vehicle only the placard of the lowest division number is shown (172.504(f)(1)).

Other exceptions in 172.504(f)

The regulations remove duplicate placards in several cases. A NON-FLAMMABLE GAS placard is not required when the vehicle is already placarded FLAMMABLE GAS or OXYGEN. For domestic transport a POISON INHALATION HAZARD placard is not required if the vehicle is already placarded POISON GAS, and a POISON placard is not required if the vehicle must display POISON INHALATION HAZARD or POISON GAS. The OXYGEN placard may replace NON-FLAMMABLE GAS for domestic transport of oxygen. A CLASS 9 placard is not required for domestic transport, but a bulk packaging must still be marked with its identification number on a CLASS 9 placard, an orange panel, or a white square-on-point display. Division 6.1 Packing Group III materials may show PG III on the POISON placard. Subsidiary hazards add placards in some cases: section 172.505 requires DANGEROUS WHEN WET placards on loads with that subsidiary hazard, and POISON INHALATION HAZARD or POISON GAS where the shipping description says Poison Inhalation Hazard.

Worked example

A box truck carries 12 drums of paint thinner with a combined gross weight of 800 pounds, all non-bulk, and nothing else regulated. Flammable liquid is Class 3, a Table 2 category. The aggregate is under 1,001 pounds, so no placard is required under 172.504(c). Add 250 pounds of a corrosive and the Table 2 aggregate becomes 1,050 pounds. Now placards are required, and because there are two Table 2 categories in non-bulk packages the driver may use a DANGEROUS placard instead of FLAMMABLE and CORROSIVE, unless 1,000 kg (2,205 pounds) or more of one category was loaded at one facility. If the same paint thinner rides in a 3,000-gallon cargo tank, it is a bulk packaging and carries FLAMMABLE at any quantity.

Limits

The page applies 172.504(c) and the tables to a single category at a time. It does not model mixed loads in detail, placard visibility, size and format rules in 172.519 and later sections, rules for air or vessel, or the extra rules for materials subject to 172.505. Placarding is also not a substitute for shipping papers, marking and training. We read the eCFR text current through October 29, 2026.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 49 CFR 172.504, general placarding requirements (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 49 CFR 172.505, placarding for subsidiary hazards (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 49 CFR 172.542, FLAMMABLE placard (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 49 CFR 172.544, COMBUSTIBLE placard (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)