# Fleet Safety Services, Inc — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 09-0120 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2010-04-01 09-0120 response to Fleet Safety Services, Inc concerning 171.8, 172.504. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 APR 0 1 2010 Mr. Gary LaBreck Fleet Safety Services, Inc l2 Harvard Street Worcester, MA 01609 Ref. No. 09-0120 Dear Mr. LaBreck: I This responds to your letter requesting clarification of the placarding requirements under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CPR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ~sk whether a pickup truck towing a trailer is considered two separate transport vehicles for the purposes of placarding under the HMR. Your client intends to tr~sport less than 1 ,dp1 Ibs aggregate gross weight of non-toxic compressed gases in both the! pickup truck and t~e trailer where the total aggregate gross weight of cylinders in both cargo-¢arrying bodies exqeeds 1,001Ibs. I I As you are aware, § 171.8 of the HMR defines a transport vehicle as "a cargo-carryirlg vehicle such as an automobile, van, tractor, truck, semitrailer, tank car or railcar used\ for the transportation of cargo by any mode. Each cargo-carrying body {trailer, rail car, etc'tiS a separate transport vehicle." Additionally, you are aware that placards are not require' on a transport vehicle which contains less than 454 kg (I,OOllbs) aggregate gross weight, f I hazardous materials covered by table 2 of paragraph ( e) under § 172.504. In the scen~rio you describe, the pick-up truck and trailer are two separate transport vehicles each carrying less than 454 kg (l,OOllbs) of eligible hazardous materials. Therefore, neither the pick-up truck nor the trailer is required to be placarded in highway transportation. I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Hattie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Standards <<>> . Drakeford, Carolyn .. From: INFOCNTR . Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 3:34 PM To: Drakeford, Carolyn : I Subject: FW: Hazmat Information Center Feedback: General Information, RegU~lations, al"ld Definitions (Sections 171 1 – 171.26) ~ · -----Original Message----From: PHMSA-Feedback [mailto:PHMSA-Feedback] ~ r. ' tS 1112 .6D'1 . ~'1.1 ~ ,) Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 3:06 PM ~nl-hoV\~ 1/ g1f.!a~d'd To: PHMSA HM InfoCenter; PHMSA Webmaster ect: Hazmat Information Center feedback: General Information, Regu1atio~s, and(J it Definitions (Sections 171.1 – 171.26) REQUEST FOR A INTERPRETATION LETTER §171.8 Definitions and abbreviation~. Transport vehicle means a vehicle such as an automobile, van. tractor, truck, semitrailer, tank car or used for the transportation of car¢o by any mode. Each cargo-carrying body (trailer, car, etc.) is a transport vehicle. §172.504 General placarding requirements. (c) (1) A transport vehicle or freight container which less than 45 kg (1001 pounds) aggregate gross of hazardous materials by Table 2 of paragraph (e) of this section; or Could I please receive an interpretation letter on the I have a client that does environmental testing. They which as a GVWR of 10,001 lbs or more. They also tow a trailer more. They haul cylinders of compressed the trailer. They ~nder 454kg (1001 pounds). Per 172.504(c) (1) it not meet the plac~rding requiremen~s. ! I Under 171.8 it states that the and trailer are a e transport cleo The question for the interpretation letter is, can they cartry cylinders in vehicle as long as each vehicle has a weight under 454 (~001 pounds)? Name: Gary LaBreck Organization: Fleet Services lIne. Email: glabreck@fleet-safety.com Address: 12 Harvard Street : Worcester Zip Code: 01609 Phone: 508-868-1380 FAX: 508-831-7611 1 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `baf74092e84b83964b3fc2ccee00367a2318ea100d153632415e2672316ae2f6` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T13:16:14.814Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-09-0120` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Fleet Safety Services, Inc" ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Gary LaBreck" ], "refIds": [ "09-0120" ], "catalogDates": [ "2010-04-01" ], "catalogParts": [ 171, 172 ], "catalogRowCount": 2, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/44891" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "171.8", "172.504", "171.26", "171.1" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/1718", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172504" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090120.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090120.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090120.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/09-0120-b472eb1b7f.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "2d287b39d4a2230111f747682caa8f2ca22e018c58660912b858f1e00d4a0ec7", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/09-0120-b472eb1b7f.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "920d2ff0f6ce18ca6207455010ee1c4272c58d0641f6e90ec897d27118a9f164", "pageCount": 2, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```