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ResourcesCargo, hazmat, size & weight
Cargo, hazmat, size & weight1 min read

DOT Chart 17 — markings, labels and placards

One sheet that decodes every hazard class placard you will see on a trailer or a shipping paper. Worth carrying whether or not you hold a hazmat endorsement.

Author
Relay Dispatch Desk
Published
18 Aug 2026
Verified
15 Aug 2026
Re-checked
annually

Key takeaways

  • One sheet covering every hazard class, its label, its placard and the marking rules.
  • You need it to read a shipping paper even if you never haul placarded freight yourself.
  • It pairs with the Emergency Response Guidebook: the chart identifies, the guidebook tells you what to do.
  • PHMSA publishes it free and it is a federal work, so nobody should ever sell it to you.

Why a non-hazmat driver wants it

Two reasons. The first is that you will be parked next to placarded trailers every night of your working life, and knowing what is beside you is worth the thirty seconds. The second is that shipping papers arrive with class numbers on them, and a driver who cannot read one is relying entirely on somebody else having got it right.

How it pairs with the orange book

  • Chart 17 identifies: this placard, this class, these marking rules.
  • The Emergency Response Guidebook acts: this guide number, this isolation distance, these first-minute instructions.
  • Carry both. Neither is much use on its own in the first five minutes of an incident.

Sources

Re-verified annually. Educational summary — the regulation controls. Not legal advice.

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