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    DG Digest: More Lithium Battery News, PHMSA Special Permits and FRA Fines Hit Record Heights

    - January 25, 2016 -

    Several items of note occurred in the DG world last week, with new and revised regulations affecting everything from Limited Quantities to Lithium Batteries and a vital Federal Agency noting that its enforcement penalties were way up: ICAO/IATA Lithium Battery Rules Changes Both the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association…

    Federal Register publishes HM-233F revisions to the HMR

    - January 22, 2016 -

    The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) yesterday published the newest rulemaking under its HM-233 Docket family.  This incorporates various aspects of previously issued Special Permits (SP’s) into the body of the regulations.  Specials Permits are administrative actions that grant specific users permission to do something outside of…

    10 must-have items for hazmat shipping when it’s freaking cold

    - January 22, 2016 -

    If you’re transporting Dangerous Goods anywhere north of Arizona this time of year, it seems like every conversation starts like this: “Cold out.” “Yeah. Supposed to get colder.” “Really? $*%#@!” But Dangerous Goods shipments don’t care if your eyelashes freeze together or your fingertips go numb. You have to keep your shipments safe and on-time—but…

    IATA DGR Update: Everything you know about lithium battery shipping may change

    - January 21, 2016 - ,

    Shippers are still coming to grips with the recent International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) addendum, which among other changes, established the first-ever state-of-charge limitation on air transport of lithium batteries. Then, on Saturday, January 16th, the International Air transport Association (IATA) released an addendum to 57th edition of the Dangerous Goods Regulations, commonly referred to as…

    ICAO imposes first-ever charge limit on lithium battery shipments, effective April 1

    - January 20, 2016 - ,

    ICAO has published its much anticipated addendum highlighting additional consignment conditions  for the transport of lithium batteries. The ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel considered that these would significantly improve the already high-level of safety of these shipments and it would be prudent to have them in place as soon as possible. As a result, the ICAO addendum…

    New Year, New Revisions to DG Regulations for IATA and IMO

    - January 13, 2016 - ,

    As often occurs at the turn of the year, both the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have released updates to their respective Dangerous Goods Regulations.  In the case of the IATA regulations, much of it has to do with revisions to rules surrounding lithium batteries.  Please see our relevant…

    DG Digest: FMCSA lowers truckers’ substance test rates, will hold FAST sessions; FRA begins PTC data collection

    - January 5, 2016 - ,

    December 24: FMCSA cuts random truckers’ testing rate for substance abuse to 25%. Good news for truck drivers and carriers—the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has cut the random testing rate for substance abuse in half, from 50% to 25%. This should produce a nice savings for carriers,…

    USDOT/FMCSA announces delay to new Medical Exam Report and Certificate compliance date

    - December 18, 2015 -

    Today the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) formally made the anticipated announcement of which rumor had circulated in the regulatory community for the last several days.  FMCSA offered a “grace period” of 120 days regarding mandatory use of the new Medical Examination Report (MER) (Federal Form MCSA-5875) and…

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