How to fill out a hazmat shipping paper
A hazmat shipping paper is the document that travels with a hazardous materials shipment by highway. 49 CFR 172.201 sets out what it must contain: the shipper and consignee, a description of each hazardous material, an emergency response telephone number, emergency response information, and a signed certification. Get any of those wrong and a carrier can refuse the load — or you can draw an FMCSA penalty that runs into four figures per day.
The part most people get wrong is the description itself. Section 172.202(a) fixes the exact order: identification number, then proper shipping name, then hazard class or division, then packing group. Additional words like "RQ", "Waste" or a technical name in parentheses go in specific places around that core. The order is not stylistic — an out-of-sequence description is a non-compliant description.
This tool builds that description for you straight from the 172.101 table, so the sequence and the class/UN-number/packing-group values come from the regulation, not from memory. You add the shipper, consignee, quantities and a 24-hour emergency number, and it produces the PDF with the emergency response block and the 172.204 certification already in place.
Open the generator — free, no upload
The fields on a compliant shipping paper
- Shipper and consignee — names and addresses (172.201(a)).
- Basic description of each material in 172.202(a) order: ID number, proper shipping name, hazard class, packing group.
- Total quantity and the number and type of packages (172.202(a)(5)-(6)).
- A 24-hour emergency response telephone number that is monitored (172.201(d), 172.604).
- Emergency response information — the ERG guide number or equivalent (172.602).
- The shipper's certification, dated and signed (172.204).
Questions
Does the order of the description really matter?
Yes. 172.202(a) requires identification number, proper shipping name, hazard class, then packing group, in that sequence, with no unauthorized information interspersed. An out-of-order description is a violation even when every value is correct.
Do I need a separate document for emergency response?
The emergency response information (172.602) can be on the shipping paper itself — the ERG guide number per material satisfies this — or in a separate document like the ERG that travels with the shipment. This tool prints the guide numbers on the paper.
Is this legal advice?
No. HazShip Papers is software that assembles the document; you remain the offeror and are responsible for correct classification, packaging and quantities. When in doubt, consult your DOT hazmat compliance resource.