New placarding regulations took effect October 1 for fuel haulers handling gasoline blends with more than 10% ethanol. The placard ID number is 3475 for gasoline/ethanol blends above 10%.
The easiest way to comply with the requirement is to put placards for gasoline (ID number 1203) and placards for gasoline/ethanol blends with more than 10% ethanol (ID number 3475) on the front and rear tank heads and on the sides of the cargo tank, according to National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC).
The Department of Transportation also offers fuel haulers the option of using just the “Flammable” placard on the front and read heads. Placards with the ID numbers 1203 and 3475 would go on each side and sequence is not an issue.
Voluntary compliance with the regulation had been authorized since January 2008, so this change probably comes as no real surprise for many fuel haulers. However, NTTC reports that there seems to be some confusion about placarding multi-compartment tank trailers that are carrying different products in each compartment. DOT information seems to indicate that a separate placard would be required for each compartment, and the placards must be in sequence.