2021 started with the world in the grip of a pandemic and ended … with the world in the grip of a pandemic. In between, the global supply chain struggled with labor shortages, shipwrecks, material shortages, capacity crunches, chronic disruptions and the most stressful holiday shipping season in memory.
In our corner of the Dangerous Goods galaxy, we helped our readers navigate this crazy year with as much weekly sanity as we could share. Here are the ten blog posts you relied on more than any others in 2021.
- Top 10 Dangerous Goods questions our hotline experts answer every day. Our top ten list kicks off with a top ten list! We wanted to assure newbies and experienced shippers alike that our experts on the Labelmaster Regulatory Hotline are glad to hear your questions—even if you think we’ve heard them a million times before.
- DG Digest: IATA releases significant changes for the upcoming 63rd Edition of the DGR. Annual updates to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations are always big news, and as always Labelmaster Senior Regulatory Specialist Nikki Burgess, DGSA, CDGP, highlighted the ones shippers needed to know first. (See #4 below for a prime example.)
- Infographic: Who needs Dangerous Goods training? And what kind? As Dangerous Goods transport gets more complex, we keep developing more online training courses to help shippers keep their teams current. And since we also introduced the industry’s first 3D interactive training experience this year, we thought it was time to update this popular guide.
- What will lithium battery shippers do without Section II Packing Instructions? One of the most significant changes in the new IATA DGR is that Packing Instructions PI 965 and PI 968 have been revised to remove Section II. This means that many packages containing any number of small lithium batteries will now be classified as Fully Regulated shipments, requiring extra training, stronger packaging and additional labels and marks. An essential read for lithium battery shippers.
- DG Digest: See the significant changes to Amendment 40 of the Covid-19-delayed IMDG Code. Maritime transport of Dangerous Goods is the backbone of the world’s economies, so it’s no wonder readers were eager for these updates to the IMDG Code—the standard regulatory publication for shipping hazmat by vessel.
- Why smart e-bike retailers consider lithium battery training a growth strategy. E-bikes started as a trend but quickly became a mainstream movement. And, since they’re powered by large format lithium batteries, they’ve also become a hot topic for many organizations who never had to worry about shipping Dangerous Goods before.
- How to grow your hazmat shipping operation during a labor shortage. One consequence of the pandemic was labor shortages, especially in manufacturing and supply chain organizations. What can you do if your business is growing but you can’t find the additional workers you need? Advanced Dangerous Goods technology can be a huge part of your solution.
- These 4 words can be a key to Dangerous Goods terminology. Your typical Dangerous Goods regulatory manual may contain close to one million words. Yet Labelmaster Senior Manager Jim Shimko insists, “There are four words that can help you interpret the regulations. And they can work against you when interpreted incorrectly.” Aren’t you curious what they are?
- Hazmat shippers need internal SMEs. Who are they, and how do you train them? Every Dangerous Goods operation has one person whom everyone else goes to with hazmat questions—the internal subject matter expert. They’re indispensable to any operation. But how do you train a new one? Labelmaster Senior Consultant Alicia Saenz shares her answers here.
- Top 7 ways to handle the stress of hazmat supply chain disruptions. And we wrap up our list with another list. If holiday shipping season elevated your blood pressure, these ideas should help you chill out in time to enjoy some year-end celebrations.
It’s been one wild year in the Dangerous Goods supply chain! Everyone at Labelmaster wishes you a sane, safe, healthy, and fully compliant new year!
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