“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.” King Lear – William Shakespeare Or to put it in the modern vernacular, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” This is the aphorism that came to mind during my presentation of a new and novel Labelmaster packaging solution at a mini-symposium of lithium battery packaging…
Infographic | 2015 Regulations in Review
Emergency orders and advisories? Check. Airlines making their own rules? Check. Congress playing politics with key deadlines? No surprise to anyone who’s worked in the world of DG shipping regulations for more than 15 minutes. We know there’s only one constant—change. Download a printable PDF of the Infographic | 2015 Regulations in Review…
PHMSA/FAA Meet to Discuss Concerns on Lithium Battery Transport
The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held a joint public meeting in Washington, DC on September 18th. The principal topic of discussion was the situation regarding the transport of lithium batteries via aircraft. This past summer, many individual airlines took action to limit the…
ICAO to launch new aircraft tracking website
On September 22, 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced the addition of a new portion of their website devoted to a centralized collection of aircraft tracking information. The new information section of ICAO’s public website was created in response to recommendations from ICAO Member States in February of this year at the High…
ICAO releases new Addendum/Corrigendum updating Technical Instructions for Dangerous Goods
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has released a new Addendum and Corrigendum revising the 2015 – 2016 Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, commonly referred to as the ICAO TI or simply TI. The TI are the set of regulations that, together with national regulations like the 49 CFR…
UPS Imposes New Lithium Metal Battery Restrictions
In an action which is assuredly no April Fool’s jest, United Parcel Service (UPS) today announced new restrictions on and requirements for the transport of Lithium Metal Batteries. Effective July 1st, 2015, shipments of UN3090 Lithium Metal Batteries via UPS Airlines must receive pre-approval from UPS prior to shipment. The announcement indicates that this will…
‘Why do I need a new Air Regs book every year?’
I’m often asked: why do I need a new Air Regs book every year? Always an interesting question and the answer changes every year! For 2015 though, it’s really simple. This is an ICAO year, one in which there’s a new edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions which is worldwide legal requirements for transporting dangerous…
The Sky is NOT The Limit When Shipping DG
It’s been a busy summer for our A.I.R. ShipperTM authoring team. Rolling in the large number of changes developed by ICAO, the UN and the IAEA was a challenge made more difficult with very late changes for lithium metal batteries. In case you hadn’t heard, these will be banned aboard passenger aircraft per the ICAO Technical…
Lithium Batteries: Notable Changes Result from PHMSA’s Final Rule — HM-224F
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s new final ruling on the safe transport of lithium batteries was published today in the Federal Register. The adopted amendments in the final rule pertain to 49 CFR, Parts 171, 172, 173, and 175. Read the full text here.
PHMSA Announces Final Rule Pertaining to Lithium Battery Transport
Today via the U.S. DOT PHMSA website, the agency announced the forthcoming issuance of a Final Rule regarding new regulatory requirements pertaining to the safe transport of lithium batteries. Specifically, the new ruling revises hazard communication and packaging provisions for lithium batteries and harmonizes the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) with applicable provisions of the United…