7.1 Mixed Loading Prohibitions and Foodstuff Segregation (ADR 7.5.2 & 7.5.4)

ADR Dangerous Goods Driver Training Certificate — Core Module Europe

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1 Chapter 1: Regulatory Framework, Scope, and Exemptions

1.1 ADR Legal Framework, Scope, and Participant Responsibilities 1.2 Small Load Exemptions: ADR 1.1.3.6 and the 1,000-Point Rule 1.3 Limited Quantities (LQ) and Excepted Quantities (EQ)

2 Chapter 2: Hazard Classification and Classes 1 to 4

2.1 UN Classification System, UN Numbers, and Packing Groups 2.2 Class 1 (Explosives) and Class 7 (Radioactive) Core Awareness 2.3 Class 2: Gases 2.4 Class 3 Flammable Liquids and Class 4 Flammable Solids & Reactives

3 Chapter 3: Hazard Classes 5 to 9 and Environmental Hazards

3.1 Class 5: Oxidizing Substances and Organic Peroxides 3.2 Class 6: Toxic and Infectious Substances 3.3 Class 8: Corrosive Substances 3.4 Class 9: Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods and Environmental Hazards

4 Chapter 4: Package Labelling, Marking, and Orange Plates

4.1 Package Hazard Labels and Handling Marks 4.2 Orange-Coloured Plates: Plain vs Numbered Plates 4.3 Hazard Identification Numbers (Kemler Codes) and UN Numbers

5 Chapter 5: Vehicle Placarding, Special Marks, and Vehicle Equipment

5.1 Vehicle, Tank, and Container Placarding (ADR Chapter 5.3) 5.2 Special Markings: Environmentally Hazardous, Elevated Temperature, and Quantity Marks 5.3 Vehicle Safety Equipment and Fire Extinguishers (ADR 8.1.4 & 8.1.5)

6 Chapter 6: Transport Documentation and Written Instructions

6.1 The Dangerous Goods Transport Document (ADR 5.4.1) 6.2 Instructions in Writing: Emergency Action Information (ADR 5.4.3) 6.3 Driver Training Certificate and Vehicle Approval Documents

7 Chapter 7: Operational Rules, Loading, and Vehicle Supervision

7.1 Mixed Loading Prohibitions and Foodstuff Segregation (ADR 7.5.2 & 7.5.4) 7.2 Cargo Handling, Securing (EN 12195-1), and Vehicle Supervision (ADR 8.4) 7.3 Operational Precautions: Smoking, Engine Running, and Decontamination

8 Chapter 8: Emergency Response, Tunnel Restrictions, and Security

8.1 Emergency Actions, Incident Management, and Fire-Fighting Tactics 8.2 Tunnel Restriction Categories (A through E) and Passage Rules 8.3 Security Awareness and High-Consequence Dangerous Goods (HCDG, Chapter 1.10)

9 Chapter 9: Waste Transfers, Civil Liability and Multimodal Carriage

9.1 Waste Transfer and Environmental Protection 9.2 Civil Liability, Duty of Care and Evidence 9.3 Multimodal Transport and Points of Interchange

10 Chapter 10: Vehicle Technical Equipment and Safe Operation

10.1 Purpose and Safe Operation of Vehicle Technical Equipment

11 Chapter 11: First Aid and Personal Protection

11.1 First Aid, Casualty Assessment and PPE Limitations

7.1 Mixed Loading Prohibitions and Foodstuff Segregation (ADR 7.5.2 & 7.5.4)

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Use the actual 7.5.2 table, all labels and footnotes; many ordinary classes 2–9 may be carried together.

Ordinary label 4.1 is different from the separate 4.1 + 1 entry; never substitute the wrong row.

A table permission does not authorise chemicals to mix or override special provisions and safe stowage.

Food protection under 7.5.4 uses specified labels/UN entries and alternative separation arrangements, including 0.8 metres.

Last updated: October 2026

Mixed loading: read the labels and the actual table

ADR 7.5.2 regulates packages carried together in the same vehicle or container. Its table is based on the danger labels carried by the packages. A driver must distinguish this legal label-pairing test from chemical compatibility, food protection, and special handling conditions. Those tests can all matter, but they answer different questions.

An X in Table 7.5.2.1 means mixed loading is permitted for the relevant pairing. A blank cell means it is not permitted under that table; a lettered footnote can establish a specific permission under stated conditions. Read the footnote before deciding. Do not treat an X as an instruction to mix substances physically, or assume that two different class numbers must always be isolated in separate vehicles.

A practical checking sequence

Identify all primary and subsidiary danger labels for each package from the consignment information and external labels.

Find the appropriate rows and columns, including the separate 4.1 + 1 and 5.2 + 1 entries where relevant.

Check the table intersection and any footnote. When only Class 1 packages are being combined, apply the compatibility-group table under 7.5.2.2 as directed by the Class 1 note.

Check the goods’ additional conditions in Table A, including Chapter 7.5 special provisions, quantity limits and temperature controls.

Check food/feed separation and the planned stowage and load restraint independently.

Refer unresolved combinations to the responsible consignor/carrier or DGSA before loading.

Ordinary classes and the important explosive distinctions

Ordinary packages bearing labels 3 and 8, or ordinary labels 5.1 and 4.1, are not subject to the blanket class-wide bans sometimes assumed from their chemical names. The table permits many ordinary combinations of classes 2–9. However, leaked oxidiser must not contact combustible material, and incompatible acids and alkalis must not be allowed to mix. Packaging integrity and the undertaking’s risk assessment still matter.

Pairing being checked What the basic driver should recognise

Ordinary label 5.1 with ordinary label 4.1 No blanket prohibition in 7.5.2.1; still check compatibility and applicable provisions

Ordinary label 3 with ordinary label 8 Table permission does not authorise substances to mix or excuse subsidiary-label checks

Label 4.1 plus subsidiary label 1 with ordinary label 3 The separate explosive-subsidiary row has restrictive blank cells; an ordinary 4.1 permission cannot be substituted

Label 5.2 plus subsidiary label 1 with ordinary label 5.2 The table has an explicit permission; “explosive subsidiary label always prohibited with everything” is incorrect

Division 1.4S with ordinary other-class goods Footnote (a) provides permission for the listed intersections; it is not permission for every conceivable load

Class 1 generally has restrictive combinations, but 1.4S is not the only possible exception. Other footnotes cover specified life-saving/safety devices and particular controlled combinations. These are not a general driver's authority to assemble an explosives load. Where Class 1 is involved, the relevant qualification, compatibility, vehicle, quantity and security requirements must be established by the responsible operator.

Containers and partitions are not universal workarounds

An ordinary partition in a trailer does not automatically override a prohibited same-vehicle combination. ADR 7.5.2.3 contains a specific rule about goods in closed containers with complete sides, while retaining the identified Class 1 restrictions between container contents and other goods on the same vehicle. Do not assume that stretch wrap, a wooden board or putting goods at opposite ends makes a forbidden combination lawful.

Limited-quantity goods also have a mixed-loading rule: 7.5.2.4 prohibits their combination with explosives except division 1.4 and the two specified UN entries. The presence of LQ packages does not remove the need to check an explosives consignment.

Foodstuffs and animal feed: the separate 7.5.4 test

Where CV28 is assigned, packages and uncleaned empty packagings bearing labels 6.1 or 6.2 , and label 9 for UN 2212, 2315, 2590, 3151, 3152 or 3245 , must not be stacked on or loaded in immediate proximity to known food, other consumption articles or animal feed. The rule applies in vehicles, containers and at loading, unloading and transhipment places.

The permitted arrangements are alternatives:

A complete partition at least as high as the relevant dangerous goods packages.

Intervening packages not bearing the specified labels/entries.

A space of at least 0.8 metres .

The specified dangerous goods packages have an additional packaging or are completely covered, for example with suitable sheeting or a fibreboard cover.

ADR does not require a full-height, airtight vehicle bulkhead in every case, or an overpack and 0.8 metres in all cases. Conversely, an arbitrary space smaller than 0.8 metres does not meet the distance alternative. The selected arrangement must remain effective during carriage, including after deliveries change the load.

Worked food-separation decision

A driver receives toxic pesticide drums and palletised food. The loader proposes a distance of 0.5 metres with no partition, intervening packages or additional protection. That proposal fails the distance alternative. Increasing the maintained separation to 0.8 metres can satisfy that alternative, provided the rest of the requirements and safe stowage are met. The driver must also ensure that later partial unloading will not leave an unsecured pesticide pallet able to slide into the food.

If leakage is suspected, stop the operation and protect people from exposure. Legal separation distances are not a cleanup procedure and do not make contaminated food safe. Report the incident, prevent distribution of suspect food and obtain responsible-party instructions.

Source check: 17 October 2026 — ADR 2025, English text published by the Slovak Ministry of Transport , 7.5.2 and 7.5.4.