As of January 1, 2013, shippers of hazardous materials must conform to the required order of basic DOT information on shipping papers. That order is:

• The UN identification number of the material as shown in Column 4 of the Hazardous Materials Table (49 CFR 172.101);
• The proper shipping name found in Column 2 of the table;
• The hazard class or division number prescribed for the material, as shown in Column 3 of the table table;
• The packing group in Roman numerals, as shown in Column 5 of the table.

PHMSA changed the order in 2006 to align with international standards. The 2006 final rule allowed for a transition period for using the shipping description sequences until January 1, 2013.