Manifest Mix-Up: SHIP vs. ISHP in Hazardous Waste Shipping

One of the more confusing quirks in hazardous materials shipping is that the required DOT shipping description format changed over a decade ago, but one of the industry’s most commonly used forms still hasn’t fully caught up.

Prior to 2013, many hazmat professionals were taught the shipping description order as “SHIP”:Shipping NameHazard ClassID NumberPacking Group

However, the Hazardous Materials Regulations were updated to require the description order now commonly remembered as “ISHP”:

ID Number

Shipping Name

Hazard Class

Packing Group

Today, the proper basic description sequence under 49 CFR 172.202 is:

“UN/NA Identification Number, Proper Shipping Name, Hazard Class/Division, Packing Group.”

For example:

“UN1993, Waste Flammable liquids, n.o.s. (Acetone, Xylene), 3, PG II”

Here’s where confusion still happens: the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest continues to label Box 9b as “U.S. DOT Description (Including Proper Shipping Name, Hazard Class, ID Number, Packing Group).” That wording reflects the old SHIP-style order and can unintentionally mislead generators and transporters into arranging the description incorrectly.

The manifest instructions themselves are not changing the DOT shipping paper requirements. The actual hazardous materials description still must comply with the current DOT format requirements in the Hazardous Materials Regulations. In practice, many manifests in the field still show descriptions in the outdated order simply because personnel are following the wording shown in Box 9b.

It’s a small detail, but it matters. Incorrect sequencing can create inconsistencies between manifests, profiles, labels, and other shipping documents, and it is one of those subtle compliance issues that frequently appears during audits and inspections.

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