Transportation Article

Volume 8, Issue 30

July 31, 2007

FLIGHT DELAYED

There’s something you should know if your company ships consumer commodities: the requirements are not the same for ground and air transportation! To avoid non-compliance and delayed shipments—as well as potential fines and penalties—your employees must be aware of and apply all the variations. Managers will need to take this into account when employees fill in for each other during vacations and on sick days.

A consumer commodity package meeting the DOT 49 CFR requirements for domestic ground transportation will not meet the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) standards for international air shipments! Key differences between the DOT ground and the IATA air rules include classifying, naming, and preparing the shipment.

	DOT (ground)	IATA
Hazard Class	ORM–D	Class 9
Proper Shipping Name	Consumer Commodity [49 CFR 173.144, 173.150–173.155]	Consumer Commodity [IATA 4.2]
Packaging	Combination packaging, strong outer packaging, positive closures, may need absorbent or absorbent and liner [49 CFR 173.144, 173.150–173.155]	Combination packaging, strong outer packaging, positive closures, may need absorbent or absorbent and liner [IATA Sec. 5, Packaging Instruction 910]
Markings & Labels	“Consumer Commodity,” “ORM–D,” orientation arrows for liquids, consignor’s or consignee’s name and address [49 CFR 172.301(d), 172.312, 172.316]	“Consumer Commodity,” Class 9 label, orientation arrows for liquids, consignor’s AND consignee’s name and address [IATA 7.1.5.1, 7.2.3, 7.2.4.4]
Shipping Papers/Declaration of Dangerous Goods	Required if a hazardous substance, hazardous waste, marine pollutant, or air shipment When required, shipping description: Consumer Commodity, ORM–D (no UN ID and no PG) [49 CFR 172.202]	Always required Shipping description: ID 8000, Consumer Commodity, 9 [IATA 8.1.6.9]
Emergency Response Information & Telephone Number	Not required [49 CFR 172.604(c)]	Required by DOT for all shipments offered for transportation or transported in the U.S. using international rules [49 CFR 171.22, 172.200]

Complete training on ground transportation (49 CFR) is provided at the Hazardous Materials Transportation Certification Workshop (49 CFR). For those who need to know the additional IATA requirements, we offer a one–day workshop immediately following the 49 CFR program, as well as monthly web seminars.

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