FMCSR 177.840G: Hazmat Emergency Response Info — Q&A

Yes, likely. Across our inspection records, 177.840G citations result in an out-of-service placement 75.0% of the time. That's significantly higher than the national average OOS rate of 31.4% across all FMCSR codes. In the last 180 days, every citation in Texas (4 total) and Illinois (1 total) ended in an out-of-service order. If an inspector finds your hazmat vehicle lacks required emergency response information, expect your truck to be pulled from service immediately pending correction.

This violation carries a CSA severity weight of 6 points. Your CSA Safety Management System will record this as a hazardous materials violation in the Hazardous Materials BASIC. The actual impact on your carrier's percentile ranking depends on when the citation was issued—FMCSA applies a 30-day multiplier to recent violations and then reduces the weight over time. A single citation can swing a company's BASIC score noticeably if it's a small operation; for larger fleets, the proportional impact is lower.

Immediately locate your emergency response information documentation and verify it meets FMCMR requirements. If you're still out of service, contact your dispatcher to arrange transportation or vehicle repair. Based on our data, drivers cited for 177.840G often also receive citations for related hazmat documentation issues—specifically hazmat shipping paper format (1 co-occurring case) and cargo tank valve/manhole integrity (1 co-occurring case). Review those areas too. Then consult your carrier's compliance team or a hazmat specialist to confirm your vehicle meets all emergency response information requirements before returning to service.

It's moderate-to-serious, but less catastrophic than some hazmat violations. General loading/unloading hazmat violations (177.834A-HMC and 177.834(a)) trigger out-of-service orders 99.2% and 97.9% of the time respectively. Placard violations (177.817(a)) hit 75.1% OOS rate—nearly identical to 177.840G's 75.0%. However, some peer violations like placard deterioration (177.817(e)) result in OOS only 5.2% of the time. The takeaway: emergency response info violations put you at serious risk of immediate removal from service.

Yes, any roadside inspection citation can be contested through the FMCSA's DataQs (Data Quality System) process. However, success depends on the nature of the finding. If the inspector documented that you lacked required emergency response information materials, you'll need to prove you had them and the inspector missed them—a documentation-based defense. If it's a substantive compliance gap, contesting is unlikely to succeed. File your DataQs challenge within a set timeframe through your carrier's safety department or directly with FMCSA. Our database doesn't include DataQs outcomes, so your odds depend on the specific facts of your inspection.

In the last 180 days, Texas leads with 4 citations (100% out-of-service rate), followed by Illinois with 1 citation (also 100% OOS). All-time, our records show 16 citations to this code. It's not a high-volume violation—ranked #2026 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes—but when it does appear, it almost always results in an out-of-service order. Most citations involve propane and fuel distributors, with Kenworth and Freightliner tractors cited most often.

Extremely urgent. You cannot legally operate that hazmat vehicle without being back in compliance. In the last 90 days, we've logged 3 citations to this code; in February 2026 alone, 3 citations were issued—all resulting in out-of-service placements. The enforcement pattern shows this violation is being actively enforced. Do not attempt to drive around an out-of-service order. Contact your hazmat safety manager or a compliance consultant immediately to understand what emergency response information your vehicle requires, acquire it if missing, and get reinspected for removal from the out-of-service status.

Our all-time data shows GNETT ENTERPRISES LLC (USDOT 2566963) received 2 citations—the highest. Single citations were issued to nine other carriers, mostly small to mid-size propane, gas, and fuel distributors: DCC PROPANE LLC, LAKES GAS CO, DEITER BROS FUEL CO INC, GREENS BLUE FLAME GAS CO INC, IWS GAS AND SUPPLY LTD, FUEL MARK INC, A & D PROPANE INC, MIDSTREAM TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, and PICO PROPANE OPERATING LLC. The pattern suggests this violation is dispersed across hazmat carriers rather than concentrated in one segment, but propane operators appear most frequently.