hazardous materials
materiales peligrososFull entrySubstances that endanger health, safety or property when transported.
Think gasoline, propane, acids, explosives, poisons. The government lists them and sorts them into hazard classes. Special rules cover how they are packed, labeled, loaded and driven.
On the test
Questions ask who may haul hazardous materials, where the papers must be kept, how the vehicle is placarded, and the driver's duties.
Appears in 237 test questions
See 124 questions on the HazMat testExample: Your dispatcher offers a load of pool chemicals; you check the shipping paper for a hazard class before accepting it.
Also called: hazardous material, HazMat
A diamond-shaped sign on a vehicle showing its cargo's hazard class.
Placards are the big diamond signs on the outside of a truck that tell police and firefighters what kind of danger is inside. A placarded vehicle needs at least four identical placards: front, rear and both sides. The shipper supplies them; the driver puts them up.
On the test
Questions ask what placards are for, how many a vehicle needs, where they go, and what you must know to choose them.
Appears in 142 test questions
See 52 questions on the HazMat testDiffers by state: Minimum placard size differs by manual edition, not by law. Most state handbooks print at least 9.84 inches (250 mm) square. AZ, DC, GA, ID, ME, NC, ND, NJ and RI print at least 10 3/4 inches square, and Wyoming prints both figures. Both sizes satisfy 49 CFR 172.519, so a size question should accept either value.
Does not mean: On the CDL test a placard is a hazmat sign, not a parking permit or a protest sign.
Example: Before pulling out of the chemical plant, you walk around and check that all four FLAMMABLE placards sit level and face outward.
Diagram coming
Also called: placards, placarding, placarded
placarded vehicle
vehículo rotuladoA vehicle carrying enough hazardous materials that it must display placards.
Once placards go on, extra rules follow. The driver needs the H endorsement. The truck must stop at railroad crossings, carry a fire extinguisher rated 10 B:C or more, and park away from crowds and open fire.
On the test
Questions ask which rules apply to a placarded vehicle: fuelling, fire extinguisher rating, tire checks, railroad crossings, and who may drive it.
Appears in 9 test questions
See 9 questions on the HazMat testExample: Hauling placarded drums of corrosives, you come to a full stop before the tracks even though no train is in sight.
hazard class
Clase de peligroA category grouping hazardous materials by the type of danger they pose.
Federal rules sort hazardous materials into nine hazard classes, from explosives (Class 1) to miscellaneous (Class 9). Some classes split into divisions, like 2.1 flammable gas. The class decides the label and the placard.
On the test
Questions ask how many hazard classes exist, which classes you may not smoke near, and which must not be loaded together.
Appears in 42 test questions
See 33 questions on the HazMat testExample: The shipping paper shows Class 3, so you know the drums hold a flammable liquid and keep heat sources away.
Also called: hazard classes
identification number
Números de identificaciónA UN or NA code that identifies a hazardous material for responders.
Every regulated material has a four-digit number like UN1203. Firefighters look it up in the Emergency Response Guidebook. It appears on the shipping paper, the package, and on cargo tanks.
On the test
Questions ask where the identification number must appear, who assigns it, and what the UN and NA prefixes mean.
Appears in 18 test questions
See 17 questions on the HazMat testExample: An orange panel on the tanker reads 1203, so you look it up and find it is gasoline.
Also called: ID number, UN number, NA number
shipping paper
documento de envíoThe document that describes a shipment, including any hazardous materials on board.
Bills of lading and manifests are shipping papers. For hazmat, the paper must list the basic description and an emergency phone number. You must keep it where it can be found fast.
On the test
Questions ask what a hazmat shipping paper must contain, in what order, how hazmat entries are marked, and where the driver keeps the papers.
Appears in 51 test questions
See 41 questions on the HazMat testExample: You slide the hazmat shipping papers into the pouch on the driver's door before pulling away from the dock.
Also called: shipping papers
hazardous waste manifest
Manifiesto uniforme de residuos peligrososThe signed shipping paper that travels with every load of hazardous waste.
Hazardous waste gets its own form. The shipper, every carrier and the disposal site sign it by hand. You keep your copy after delivery.
Example: At the treatment plant, you watch the receiver sign and date the manifest before you hand over the drums.
Also called: uniform hazardous waste manifest
packing group
grupo de empaqueA Roman-numeral rating of a material's danger level that sets packaging rules.
PG I is the most dangerous, PG III the least. It comes after the hazard class in the basic description. Not every material has one.
On the test
Questions ask where the packing group sits in the basic description and which column of the table lists it.
Appears in 5 test questions
See 5 questions on the HazMat testExample: 'UN1230, Methanol, 3, PG II' on the paper tells you the methanol is a medium-danger flammable liquid.
emergency response guidebook
Manual de respuesta a emergenciasThe DOT guidebook (ERG) telling responders how to handle each hazardous material.
Firefighters and police open this orange book at a spill. They find the material by its name or its identification number. Many carriers keep a copy in every hazmat truck.
Example: After a drum starts leaking, you hand the trooper your shipping papers and the ERG from the door pocket.
Also called: ERG
reportable quantity
cantidad sujeta a notificación (RQ)The amount of a hazardous substance whose spill must be reported.
Some chemicals are watched closely by the EPA. If one package holds the reportable quantity or more, the shipper marks RQ on the paper and package. Spill that much and you must report it.
Example: You see RQ beside a line on the shipping paper and know a leak from that package would have to be reported.
Also called: RQ
hazmat endorsement
endoso de materiales peligrososThe H endorsement a CDL needs to haul materials that require placards.
You add it by passing the hazmat knowledge test. TSA also runs a background check before the state issues it. Without it you may not drive a placarded load, even with a CDL.
Example: A new driver with a plain Class A is told to pull a placarded tanker and refuses because his CDL has no H.
Also called: H endorsement, hazardous materials endorsement
hazardous materials table
Tabla de materiales peligrososThe federal list of every regulated material and its shipping details.
Shippers look up a material here first. Proper shipping names run down the table in alphabetical order. Other columns give the hazard class, identification number, packing group and labels.
On the test
Questions ask how names are ordered in the table, which column holds the identification number, and what the Column 1 symbols mean.
Appears in 12 test questions
See 12 questions on the HazMat testExample: Unsure whether a drum of 'thinner' is regulated, you ask the shipper to show you its entry in the table.
Also called: hazmat table
