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…
Could Santa pass a PHMSA inspection? A Dangerous Goods Christmas story.
TIME: December 24, 2021, 21:33 AKST PLACE: PHMSA Inspection Station, Utqiagvik, Alaska The following conversation was recorded between a junior PHMSA inspector (INSP) and an unidentified aircraft operator (OPER). INSP: Good evening! OPER: Good evening! INSP: I don’t see any identification on the exterior of your, um, aircraft here. What’s your port of origin?…
Dangerous Goods 2021: Regulatory highlights and their implications for 2022
If 2020 was the year of the pandemic, the global supply chain may remember 2021 as the year of the capacity crunch. With the pandemic still impacting workforces and travel, a perfect storm of other factors combined with surging demand to disrupt supply chains as never before. The Dangerous Goods regulatory world, while naturally affected…
New opportunities for hazmat shippers in India: Pando integrates DGIS
If you work in the Dangerous Goods supply chain, you’ve probably heard something like this before: “The challenge our customer faced was one where the packing and transportation systems were siloed. The systems didn’t really talk to any of their upstream or downstream systems. They managed Dangerous Goods on Excel sheets. The problem in front…
How Your Systems Can Simplify Hazmat and Multi-Carrier Shipping Compliance to Fuel Growth
Businesses today are in a constant struggle to grow revenues, control costs, and (for shippers of dangerous goods) reduce business risks. Thanks to advancing technology, managing your hazmat shipping processes is easier than ever, but it takes proactive planning and thought to apply the right technology to the right points in your enterprise, especially in…
Infographic: Who needs Dangerous Goods training? And what kind?
Updated with three new training modules! Who needs Dangerous Goods training? That’s easy. Training is mandated by law for anyone involved in the transport of Dangerous Goods. There are very few exceptions to the rule. But who needs what kind of training? That’s a more complicated question. Employers are responsible for making sure every employee…
This Thanksgiving, DG also stands for “Deepest Gratitude.”
We know lots of Dangerous Goods professionals are on vacation this week, but the supply chain never takes a holiday. That’s why we’d like to take a few moments to share our thanks for everyone who helps keep our highways, skies, rails and oceans safe. Thank you to the truckers, pilots, train drivers and others…
The Hazmatters Podcast is back—with a snapshot of the air cargo supply chain
When mainstream news and ordinary people are talking about the global supply chain, you know the situation is serious. Most years, everyone just expects whatever they need to be available everywhere. Kiwis for your Saturday morning fruit plate? Aluminum parts for your new shower install? Microchips for your SUV assembly line? They’d be there right…
Top 7 ways to handle the stress of hazmat supply chain disruptions
This is not the easiest time to be a supply chain pro. A perfect storm of complications—an ongoing pandemic, the explosion of eCommerce, maritime misadventures, raw material shortages, labor shortages, and actual storms—are causing global disruptions like we haven’t seen in decades. Just in time for peak holiday shipping season. If you work in the…
The ABCs of the modern supply chain: Automation, Blockchain and Compliance
Trucks drive themselves hundreds of miles on public highways. Warehouse workers’ glasses tell them which items to pick. Overseas transactions worth millions are consummated with the flick of a wand. This is not your father’s supply chain. Heck, it’s not even your older brother’s supply chain. If you find your head spinning at the pace…