Bob Richard and Neil McCulloch co-contributed to this article. When a US Senator proposes to spend tax dollars on a committee to “promote research and new standards for the safe manufacture, use or transportation of lithium batteries,” I can only sigh in frustration. This is exactly what was recently proposed by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.. …
DG Advisory Council tries to make sense of lithium battery provisions
Why would anyone choose to spend three days in Washington a few days after the city was shut down for the Storm of the Decade? That’s what 70 or so DG experts asked ourselves, before we got down to the serious business of the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council January quarterly meeting in Alexandria last week.…
ICAO Panel Moves to Ban Lithium Ion Battery Transport from Passenger Aircraft
ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission (ANC) has completed its review of the Dangerous Goods Panel’s 25th meeting and will be recommending to the Governing Council of ICAO that Lithium Ion batteries be prohibited from transport on passenger aircraft. The conclusion of the Commission was that the risks of these batteries in flight was currently “not adequately…
ICAO imposes first-ever charge limit on lithium battery shipments, effective April 1
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
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…
ICAO proposing even more changes to lithium battery rules for air shipment
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held its semi-annual meeting in Montreal, Canada earlier this month. Among many issues discussed there were further changes that may affect shippers and carriers of lithium batteries. This commodity has been under the spotlight for several years now on account of the sometimes-volatile transport incidents that have come to…
Hoverboards, this season’s hot holiday gift, banned from airline transport
While many Americans focus on holiday activity and the shopping often attendant to that, one product that might be on people’s “get list” looks like it may run into logistics trouble arriving under the tree. On Thursday, December 10th US media outlets like The Washington Post and CNN reported that major US airlines including United,…
Lithium battery packaging strives to reduce fire risks
“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…
D.O.T. moves to ban e-Cigs in checked bags
On October 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an interim final rule banning passengers and crew from storing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other battery-powered electronic smoking devices in checked bags on passenger airlines. This final ruling will be effective seven days after the upcoming posting…
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…