Make sure diesel shipments have the correct placards

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) recently sent out a letter to clarify placarding of diesel shipments. The letter was prompted by confusion over whether cargo tank trailers hauling a full load of diesel could be labeled with a 1203 gasoline placard.

The PHMSA letter states definitively that full diesel loads cannot carry a 1203 placard. They must be marked with the NA 1993 placard. That interpretation also applies to multi-compartment tanks that are transporting just diesel.

The PHMSA letter further states that: “The regulatory text in former 49 CFR Parts 172.336(c)(6), currently listed as the fifth item in the table under Parts 172.336(c)(see 78 FR 65454) permits a compartmented cargo tank loaded with more than one liquid petroleum distillate fuel to display only the identification number of the fuel with the lowest flash point being transported.”