Interpretation Response #24-0065
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Green Trucking, LLC
Individual Name: Diana Trejo
Location State: CA Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
October 24, 2024
Ms. Diana Trejo
General Manager
Green Trucking, LLC
15530 Texaco Ave.
Paramount, CA 90723
Reference No. 24-0065
This letter is in response to your July 11, 2024, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to transporting Class 9 materials and placarding. In your email, you ask whether a placard is needed on a vehicle transporting Class 9 materials and whether Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) drivers transporting Class 9 materials need a hazardous material (hazmat) endorsement.
We have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:
Q1. You ask whether a shipment containing “UN3166, Vehicle, flammable liquid powered or Vehicle, fuel cell, flammable liquid powered, 9” and/or “UN3171, Battery-powered vehicle or Battery-powered equipment, 9” needs to be labeled or placarded.
A1. The answer is that neither labels nor placards are required. Provided your shipments are made under the provisions of § 173.220, materials offered as “UN3166, Vehicle, flammable liquid powered or Vehicle, fuel cell, flammable liquid powered, 9” and/or “UN3171, Battery-powered vehicle or Battery-powered equipment, 9” are not subject to the requirements of marking, labeling, and placarding when transported by vehicle or rail car—see § 173.220(h)(1). However, permissive placarding is authorized—see § 172.502(c).
Q2. You ask whether the drivers in the scenario listed in question Q1 are required to have a hazmat endorsement on their CDLs when there are no placards displayed on the vehicle.
A2. The answer is no. For purposes of 49 CFR Part 383 and the applicability of the CDL hazmat endorsement, a “hazardous material” is defined in 49 CFR 383.5 as a material that has been designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is required to be placarded under Subpart F of 49 CFR Part 172; or any quantity of a material listed as a select agent or toxin in 42 CFR Part 73. For Class 9 materials, a Class 9 placard is not required for domestic transportation, including that portion of international transportation—defined in § 171.8—which occurs within the United States.
Q3. You ask whether the permissive display of Class 9 placards on a container or vehicle transporting “UN3166, Vehicle, flammable liquid powered or Vehicle, fuel cell, flammable liquid powered, 9” and/or “UN3171, Battery-powered vehicle or Battery-powered equipment, 9” triggers the requirement for a driver to have a hazmat endorsement on their CDL.
A3. The answer is no. Permissive placarding does not trigger the requirement for a hazmat endorsement on a CDL, see A2 above.
I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Alexander Wolcott
Acting Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division