Transport emergency cards

Transport emergency cards must be carried in the cab of any vehicle carrying dangerous goods in quantities exceeding the exempt quantitiesi. The purpose is to instruct the driver in the event of an incident. They may also assist emergency response workers, as they carry information which is specific to the particular goods being carried. There must be a card for each dangerous goods item in the load.
The consignor must either supply the card/s or give enough information for the operator to obtain the correct card/s. However, this does not absolve the carrier from a legal obligation to ensure that cards are in fact appropriate to the load. It is vital that the driver read and understand the card for any product before loading it.

Until recently, SANS codes only permitted TREMcards of CEFIC> origin to be used for this purpose and was, itself, a supplier of these cards which are, supposedly, copyrighted . Now there is an alternative, known as a TREC which may be compiled using prescribed phrases listed in SANS 10232-4>. However, this list is far from comprehensive and the restriction on the use of additional unlisted phrases may be problematic.

In Europe, the regulations governing transport of goods by road have long called for certain “information in writing” to be carried in the cab but have never prescribed that they be of CEFIC origin.

Below are examples of both.

Tremcard

TREC