Those of us in the North American Dangerous Goods supply chain may complain about the complexity of hazmat regulations, but lots of us don’t know how good we have it. After all, we only have to worry about one set of UN Model Regulations. Sure, there may be slight, unharmonized differences between Europe and North…
Dangerous Goods in 2020: Remarkable responses to an unprecedented year
January may seem like seven years ago, but 2020 actually began like any other year in the Dangerous Goods galaxy. We all know what’s happened since then. The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, impacted every sector of the global economy. From a hazmat transport perspective, three major trends emerged: Regulatory bodies overseeing Dangerous Goods transport…
Why smaller lithium battery marks are actually big news.
In the Dangerous Goods galaxy, regulators often say they work to find the ideal balance between supply chain safety and the needs of industry. Finding that balance is an ongoing process. Regulations aren’t carved in stone—they’re updated continually. Every year, regulatory bodies such as the United Nations Sub-Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and…
Hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses. What do DG shippers need to know?
Sometime in the next few weeks or months, a COVID-19 vaccine will likely be approved by the FDA (and similar bodies in other nations). That will be very, very good news. The bad news is that those vaccines won’t just magically appear at your nearest pharmacy. In fact, safely transporting hundreds of millions of vaccine…
The ORM-D hazmat mark is being phased out. Here’s its retirement speech.
Starting January 1, 2021, the ORM-D mark will no longer be accepted for Dangerous Goods shipments. Here’s what the mark had to say on the occasion of its retirement from public service. Hello, hazmat shippers and Dangerous Goods professionals everywhere. I’m here to announce my retirement from public service, as my last day on the…
11 unforgettable sessions from the 2020 Dangerous Goods Symposium
As much as we love getting together with hazmat pros from around the world at the Dangerous Goods Symposium every September, we have to admit there were several advantages to this year’s all-virtual event: You could attend sessions in your pajamas You could mutter objections to the speaker’s opinion without having everyone at your table…
What we can learn from regulatory updates at the DG Symposium
On one level, regulatory update sessions at the 2020 Dangerous Goods Symposium are for true DG diehards—the trainers and shipping managers who have to know hazmat regulations in detail to keep their clients and operations compliant. But even if your job only occasionally touches the Dangerous Goods supply chain, you can still gain valuable insight.…
Want regulatory updates? The 2020 Dangerous Goods Symposium is underway!
With a pastry and a cup of coffee on your desk, the first session of the 2020 Dangerous Goods Symposium felt a lot like previous years. Two regulatory experts were speaking, and trying to take in all the information they shared was like drinking from a firehose. Of course, this year’s Symposium isn’t like other…
Changes you’ll see in the 2020 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG)
The Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) is essential for all frontline Dangerous Goods personnel, and the 2020 version is finally almost here! We expect to ship our first deliveries in four to five weeks. As expected, this year’s ERG has a multitude of changes from the 2016 version, as PHMSA has assembled an international group of…
What are operator variations, and how do they impact your hazmat shipments?
The IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations manual—known throughout the supply chain as the “IATA DGR”—is universally acknowledged as the world’s single authority on the compliant transport of hazardous materials by air. It’s more than 1,000 pages thick. Surely IATA has issued every rule any shipper would need to know, right? Not quite. There’s a whole chapter…