KEEP YOUR LITHIUM BATTERY SHIPMENTS COMPLIANT Lithium batteries are hazmat, and the regulations for shipping them change often. Keep your shipments safe and compliant with a complete line of lithium battery resources from Labelmaster. Make sure your shipments are safe and in complete compliance with a full line of solutions from Labelmaster—a full-service provider of goods and services for hazardous materials…
How to ship lithium batteries by air—in 2020 and beyond
Since 2016, when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) implemented drastically more restrictive global regulations on shipping lithium batteries by air, shippers have adapted and done their best to comply. Yet many still find the regulations confusing and have questions about what they can and cannot do. In March 2019, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials…
DOT PHMSA Hosts First Lithium Battery Air Safety Advisory Committee Meeting
Last week DOT PHMSA hosted the first Lithium Battery Air Safety Advisory Committee meeting at DOT Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and I had the pleasure of the attending the meeting alongside Labelmaster Services V.P. of Consulting, Pia Jala. Lithium cell and battery production throughout the world continues to grow at an astonishing rate due to…
8 Dangerous Goods myths and misconceptions—busted!
Remember Mythbusters? A couple of former Hollywood effects pros created one of the top shows on cable TV by debunking popular myths and misconceptions. They proved—over and over—that just because “everyone knows” something doesn’t make it true. If there were a supply chain TV network, Dangerous Goods professionals could probably run their own version of…
Hazmat hopes 2020: If Dangerous Goods professionals ran the world
Every fall, we invite everyone who attends the Dangerous Goods Symposium (and lots of other hazmat pros) to answer one simple question: If you could wish for one thing in the entire Dangerous Goods galaxy, what would it be? Now, for the third straight year, we’ve compiled those answers to kick off our year with…
DG Digest: Semi-annual regulatory agendas & the new PHMSA Lithium Battery Committee
The final DG Digest of 2019 finds regulatory activity at a surprisingly high and extensive level for the holiday period; it’s usually a slow time, but not this year! 2019 is over; what will 2020 bring to the regulatory scene? Perhaps the biggest unresolved question in the United States remains the final status of the…
DG Digest: PHMSA extends comment period for its Liquefied Natural Gas by rail NPRM
The penultimate digest week of the year finds regulatory activity much busier than one might have otherwise expected it to be, with several actions of interest. Meanwhile, this week begins the heart of the holiday season. The Labelmaster family wishes you and yours a safe and joyous holiday! Here’s all the latest: PHMSA The agency…
Revisiting the most important 2019 hazmat regulations—and previewing 2020
The biggest regulatory news in 2019 may have been something that didn’t happen—PHMSA’s HM-215O International Harmonization rule, which would have aligned U.S. regulations with the most recent UN Model Regulations, ICAO Technical Instructions and IMDG Code. HM-215O will almost certainly be formalized in 2020. Meanwhile, here’s a look back at the significant regulatory developments that…
DOT’s Check the Box making progress against undeclared Dangerous Goods
Hazardous Matt is on a roll, and the “plain brown box” is in retreat. This time last year we took a first look at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Check the Box program, a multimedia campaign that addresses the ongoing problem of undeclared Dangerous Goods—also known as the “plain brown box.” The star of the…
Why the new lithium battery test summary rules are nothing to stress out about
On January 1, 2020, a new regulation goes into effect that will impact every organization that manufactures or distributes lithium batteries and/or the equipment they power. These companies will be required to share information, known as a “test summary,” that proves their batteries meet the testing standards as defined in sub-section 38.3 of the UN…