As Labelmaster Staff Regulatory Specialist Nikki Burgess reported a couple of weeks back, many federal agencies recently raised their civil penalties about 2.5% for Dangerous Goods regulatory citations. In other words, any compliance errors you make will now cost you a little more. Update! On October 29, 2019, penalties at many agencies were increased an…
13 questions (and answers) about the 2020 Emergency Response Guidebook
Believe it or not, 2020 is only a few months away, and that means it’s almost time for the Dangerous Goods version of the summer Olympics—the quadrennial release of the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG). Since we’re already seeing heavy pre-orders for the new 2020 ERG, we wanted to take a few minutes to answer a…
DG Symposium preview: Why is lithium battery recycling suddenly sexy?
Todd Coy, Vice President at KBI, will speak about “Lithium Battery Recycling and End of Life Transport” at the 14th annual Dangerous Goods Symposium, September 4–6, 2019, in Chicago. The third day of every Dangerous Goods Symposium is devoted to lithium battery issues, with an expert panel sharing the latest regulatory developments and fielding pointed…
DG Symposium preview: The hazmat possibilities of unmanned aircraft systems
Mark Wuennenberg, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Drone Delivery Canada, will speak about “Innovation Taking Flight—Drones in Cargo Logistics” at the 14th annual Dangerous Goods Symposium, September 4–6, 2019, in Chicago. Will unmanned aircraft systems (commonly referred to as drones) ever have a role to play in Dangerous Goods transport? If Mark Wuennenberg has anything…
How to get strategic about hazmat packaging efficiency
If you’re an e-commerce customer—and who isn’t these days?—you’ve probably had the experience of receiving a small item in a large package and wondering, Was this really the most efficient way to ship this thing? As a supply chain professional, however, you know the answer probably isn’t that simple. Packaging efficiency in today’s decentralized omnichannel…
Omnichannel, decentralized and hazmat-compliant: A brave new world
How much more complex and challenging can shipping get? You’re doing everything you can to satisfy customers’ demands for fast, free delivery. You aim to be omnichannel, decentralized, parcel-optimized and cost-conscious. You keep inventories as tight and fluid as possible without ever having to say, “Sorry, we’re out.” Oh, and every shipment is fully compliant…
Explosives aren’t the only e-commerce hazmat you might ship for July 4th
July 4th is the day we celebrate being American, and what’s more American than getting what you want, when you want it? E-commerce delivers on that dream for millions of Americans every day, and that can be a beautiful thing. It can also be a dangerous thing, because many e-commerce shippers still don’t realize when…
DG Symposium preview: IATA’s Nicolas Carlone on automation and virtual reality
Nicolas Carlone, Assistant Director of DGR and Cargo Publications at IATA, will speak on Dangerous Goods acceptance automation—and give a live demo of IATA’s new virtual reality training tool—at the 14th annual Dangerous Goods Symposium, September 4–6, 2019, in Chicago. During last year’s Dangerous Goods Symposium, we wrote, “Sometime in the not-too-distant future, someone will…
5 questions you should ask about lithium battery packaging testing
When it comes to shipping lithium batteries compliantly, labels and marks grab all the headlines, but the real story is in packaging. After all, while labels and marks are critical for proper identification of a package’s contents, the package itself is what keeps those contents from causing damage. In the case of lithium batteries and…
Why your in-house legal department should understand hazmat shipping
Used to be, when Dangerous Goods pros heard from a lawyer, it could only mean one thing: bad news. Something went seriously wrong with a hazmat shipment. That mindset is changing. Will Troutman and Jim Shimko are trying to change it even faster. Troutman is a Partner with the Los Angeles office of the law…