Placard

Catch the errors before the container does

Upload a dangerous goods declaration — a Multimodal Dangerous Goods Form, an IMO Declaration, a Shipper's Declaration — as a PDF or even a photo taken on the quayside, and get a checked report back in under a minute.

Placard reads the form and tests it against the IMDG Code: the UN number and proper shipping name, the class, subsidiary risk and packing group, whether the entries may legally share a container, whether the packaging is rated for what is inside it, whether a limited quantity claim holds, whether the flashpoint agrees with the packing group, and whether the weights add up once the container tare is taken off.

Every finding shows its source

A finding you cannot defend is worse than no finding. Each one names the section of the IMDG Code it comes from, so when a shipper disputes it you can show them where it is written instead of telling them the software said so. Each report also records the Code edition it was checked against, so a decision made today can still be explained next year.

And when a rule cannot be tested — because the form does not print the value it needs — Placard says so plainly instead of quietly passing it. The verdict never claims a declaration is compliant. It tells you how many checks passed and how many could not be made, so silence is never mistaken for a clean bill of health.

What people use it for

• Screening a shipper's declaration before accepting a booking
• Giving a DG safety adviser a first pass, so their time goes to the hard cases
• Checking your own paperwork before it leaves your desk
• Keeping a dated record of what was checked, for the compliance file

What you get back

• A PDF report — summary, declared goods, findings, and every check performed
• A CSV of the checks, one row each, ready for your compliance file
• Structured data for your own systems

Good to know

• Formats: PDF, JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC, up to 25 MB. Photos of a paper form are fine.
• Billing: one unit per declaration, however many lines are on it — a six-line consolidated booking costs the same as a one-liner.
• Groupage: tell it when the lines travel in separate containers and the segregation check adapts.
• Retention: reports are kept for 30 days so you can re-download them at no extra charge, then deleted. The uploaded document itself is discarded the moment the check finishes.
• Advisory: Placard supports the person who signs the declaration; it does not replace them. It covers IMDG, not IATA or ADR-specific requirements.