Hazmat Loading and Segregation
Loading of packaged hazardous materials into highway trailers at the shipping dock, covering trailer securement and no-smoking rules during loading, keeping packages upright per orientation markings and braced against shifting, use of the segregation table to decide which hazard classes may ride in the same trailer, staging lanes by class on the dock, rejection of damaged or leaking packages before loading, and the loader's verification of the load against the shipping papers before the trailer closes.
- Audience
- Shipping associates and certified forklift operators who load hazardous materials into trailers, dock leads who stage hazmat freight, and the shipping supervisor who verifies mixed loads against the shipping papers
- Review cycle
- annual
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-17
- Revision
- 1
What is in the procedure
8 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.
- 01
Purpose
FixedThis procedure governs how packaged hazardous materials are loaded into highway trailers at the shipping dock.
- 02
Scope
CustomizedThis procedure applies to every shipment of packaged hazardous material loaded into or unloaded from a highway trailer at the facility, including full truckload, LTL, and parcel linehaul freight, and to every associate...
- 03
Responsibilities
CustomizedLoaders set the handbrake check in motion, load packages per their orientation markings, secure the load against shifting, and stop and ask before loading any pair of classes they are not certain may travel together.
- 04
Procedure: General Loading and Unloading Requirements
FixedComplete these controls on every hazmat load, whether the trailer carries a single class or a mixed load.
- 05
Procedure: Segregation Using the 49 CFR 177.848 Table
CustomizedThe segregation table in 49 CFR 177.848(d) decides which hazard classes may ride together in one trailer.
- 06
Procedure: Damaged or Leaking Packages Before Loading
CustomizedA hazmat package is inspected before it is staged and again before it enters the trailer.
- 07
Procedure: Loader Verification Against the Shipping Papers
CustomizedThe load is verified against the shipping papers before the trailer closes, because under 49 CFR 173.22 the shipper is responsible for classing and describing the hazardous material and for offering it in authorized...
- 08
References
Fixed49 CFR 177.800 Purpose and scope of part 177 and responsibility for compliance and training.
Regulatory references
Hazmat Loading and Segregation: 49 CFR 177.834(a)
Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.
| Standard | Title | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| 49 CFR 177.834(a) | Carriage by public highway, general requirements: packages secured in a motor vehicle | Any package containing any hazardous material that is not permanently attached to a motor vehicle must be secured against shifting, so that there is no relative motion between packages during transportation. |
| 49 CFR 177.834(b) | Carriage by public highway, general requirements: package orientation markings | Packages bearing package orientation markings must be loaded on a transport vehicle or within a freight container in accordance with those markings and must remain in the correct position indicated by the markings. |
| 49 CFR 177.834(c) | Carriage by public highway, general requirements: no smoking while loading or unloading | Smoking on or about any motor vehicle while loading or unloading any Class 1 (explosive), Class 3 (flammable liquid), Class 4 (flammable solid), Class 5 (oxidizing), or Division 2.1 (flammable gas) material is forbidden, and paragraph (d) of the same section requires extreme care in loading and unloading to keep fire away and to keep persons from smoking or carrying flame. |
| 49 CFR 177.834(e) | Carriage by public highway, general requirements: handbrake set while loading and unloading | No hazardous material may be loaded into or on, or unloaded from, any motor vehicle unless the handbrake is securely set. |
| 49 CFR 177.848(d) | Segregation of hazardous materials: the segregation table | The segregation table governs which hazardous materials may be loaded, transported, or stored together, using hazard classes and divisions as both the row and column entries of a matrix. The section applies to materials in packages that must be labeled or placarded under part 172, to compartments within a multi-compartmented cargo tank, and to portable tanks loaded in a transport vehicle or freight container. Under the instructions for the table, a blank space or the absence of a hazard class means no restrictions apply; an X means the two materials may not be loaded, transported, or stored together in the same transport vehicle or storage facility during the course of transportation; an O means they may not be loaded, transported, or stored together unless separated in a manner such that, in the event of leakage from packages under conditions normally incident to transportation, commingling of the hazardous materials would not occur; and an asterisk means segregation among different Class 1 (explosive) materials is governed by the compatibility table in paragraph (f) of the section. |
| 49 CFR 177.848(c) | Segregation of hazardous materials: specific prohibitions and the Class 8 liquid rule | Cyanides may not be loaded or stored with acids if a mixture would generate hydrogen cyanide; a Division 4.2 material may not be loaded, transported, or stored together with a Class 8 (corrosive) liquid; and a Division 6.1 Packing Group I Hazard Zone A material may not be loaded, transported, or stored together with Class 3, Class 8, or Division 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, or 5.2 materials. In addition, under the table instructions in paragraph (e), Class 8 (corrosive) liquids may not be loaded above or adjacent to Class 4 (flammable) or Class 5 (oxidizing) materials, except that shippers may load truckload shipments of such materials together when it is known that the mixture of contents would not cause a fire or a dangerous evolution of heat or gas. |
| 49 CFR 177.800 | Purpose and scope of this part and responsibility for compliance and training | Part 177 prescribes requirements, in addition to those in parts 171, 172, 173, 178, and 180, for carriage by public highway. Each carrier, including a connecting carrier, must perform the duties specified and comply with all applicable requirements; a carrier may not transport a hazardous material by motor vehicle unless each of its hazmat employees is trained as required; and hazardous materials shipments must be transported without unnecessary delay, from and including the time of commencement of loading until final unloading at destination. |
| 49 CFR 173.22(a) | Shipper's responsibility | Except as otherwise provided, a person may offer a hazardous material for transportation in a packaging or container only in accordance with the shipper responsibility requirements: the person must class and describe the hazardous material in accordance with parts 172 and 173, and must determine that the packaging is an authorized packaging properly manufactured to the specified standards. |
| 49 CFR 172.312(a) | Liquid hazardous materials in non-bulk packagings: closures upward and orientation arrows | Non-bulk combination packagings containing liquid hazardous materials must be packed with closures upward and marked with package orientation arrows on two opposite vertical sides of the package with the arrows pointing in the correct upright direction. The arrows must be either black or red on white or another suitable contrasting background and commensurate with the size of the package. Paragraph (b) prohibits displaying arrows for purposes other than indicating proper package orientation on a package containing a liquid hazardous material, and paragraph (c) provides limited exceptions. |
Compliance checklist
What an inspector looks for
The vehicle handbrake is securely set before any hazardous material is loaded or unloaded
49 CFR 177.834(e)
No smoking occurs on or about the vehicle while Class 1, Class 3, Class 4, Class 5, or Division 2.1 materials are loaded or unloaded, and fire is kept away from the load
49 CFR 177.834(c)
Packages bearing orientation markings are loaded in accordance with the markings and remain in that position
49 CFR 177.834(b)
Liquid hazmat combination packages are closures upward with orientation arrows on two opposite vertical sides pointing up
49 CFR 172.312(a)
Every hazmat package is secured against shifting so there is no relative motion between packages in transit
49 CFR 177.834(a)
Every class pair on a mixed load is checked against the segregation table before the trailer closes: no X pairs on board, and every O pair separated so leakage could not commingle the materials
49 CFR 177.848(d)
The specific prohibitions are enforced: no cyanides with acids that could generate hydrogen cyanide, no Division 4.2 with Class 8 liquids, and no Division 6.1 PG I Hazard Zone A with Class 3, Class 8, or Division 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, or 5.2 materials
49 CFR 177.848(c)
Class 8 corrosive liquids are not loaded above or adjacent to Class 4 or Class 5 materials, and the truckload exception is used only with the hazmat compliance owner's documented approval
49 CFR 177.848(e)
No Class 1 explosive mixed load is built without a compatibility group ruling under the Class 1 table
49 CFR 177.848(f)
The load is verified against the shipping papers before the trailer closes, and the shipper certification is signed by the authorized title
49 CFR 173.22(a)
In-transit duties, including attendance and timely movement of the shipment, are carried by the carrier under part 177 and are not assumed by facility associates
49 CFR 177.800
Damaged or leaking packages are rejected before loading, handled under the facility spill response SOP, and never loaded
Waitlist
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