Dangerous goods are items that pose a significant risk to health, safety, property, or the environment when transported. These include a wide range of materials, from lithium batteries to explosives and flammable liquids to radioactive substances and corrosive chemicals.
Transporting dangerous goods requires strict adherence to international regulations and guidelines to ensure the safe handling and transportation of these hazardous materials.
Failure to comply can result in hefty fines, shipment delays, or even complete denial of transport. Shippers and carriers need to understand the various dangerous goods classifications and their associated requirements to ensure the safe and compliant transport of these hazardous items.
To configure dangerous goods in ShipStation, add them to manual orders, and import product information in bulk using a CSV file, see our Identify Products as Dangerous Goods article.
Compliance with Dangerous Goods Regulations
Failure to comply with dangerous goods regulations can result in significant fines, delays, or even denied shipments. Ensure your carrier approves shipping products classified as dangerous goods. Also be sure that you follow current regulations, guidelines, and requirements when shipping dangerous goods.
Contact your carrier if you are uncertain what their dangerous goods shipping policies are.
The following are classifications for dangerous goods and hazardous/hazmat materials. These classifications are based upon the specific chemical characteristics of the liquids, solids, substances, or gases that produce a risk of harm to living organisms, people, property, or the environment.
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Class 1: Explosives
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Class 2: Gases
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2.1 Flammable gas
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2.2 Non-flammable, non-toxic gas
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2.3 Toxic gas
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Class 3: Flammable Liquids
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Class 4: Flammable Solids
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4.1 Flammable solid
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4.2 Spontaneously combustible substance
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4.3 Substance that emits flammable gas in contact with water
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Class 5: Oxidizing Substances and Organic Peroxides
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5.1 Oxidizing substance
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5.2 Organic Peroxide
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Class 6: Toxic and infectious substances
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6.1 Toxic substance
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6.2 Infectious substance
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Class 7: Radioactive materials
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Class 8: Corrosives
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Class 9: Miscellaneous
Be sure to check with your carrier about any additional requirements that you may be contractually obligated to follow when you ship dangerous goods with them.
These additional considerations may include:
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Packaging requirements: While ShipStaton can relay information to the carrier like the class of hazardous material, carriers may specify that you follow specific packaging requirements for particular shipments. Double-check those details with your carrier to avoid any fines, delays, or denied shipments.
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Package labeling requirements: Some carriers may require special stickers to appear on the outside of any parcel that contains dangerous goods. Check with your carrier to confirm if this is the case and exactly what form such labeling will take.
Packaging Tips
Never pack dangerous goods with incompatible materials that may react dangerously with one another.
If you choose the wrong packaging, you could severely injure a transportation worker, harm the environment, or cause catastrophic damage to a vehicle.
Carefully follow the information in the packaging closure instructions from the manufacturer. Package manufacturers test specification packages with the materials listed in the closure instructions.
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Some carriers may have additional requirements beyond marking the shipment in ShipStation, like using specific services, special paperwork, or packing stickers. Check with your carrier to ensure your shipments meet these requirements.
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Some carriers may not support marking shipments as dangerous goods in ShipStation but will still permit you to ship dangerous goods if your account contract allows it. For example, you may have a UPS account contract that allows shipping items on their dangerous goods list. You will not mark these shipments in ShipStation as containing dangerous goods (the option will not be present for you to select), but UPS does have specific contractual and packaging requirements you must adhere to.
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You cannot ship dangerous goods with any services from ShipStation Carriers. The Dangerous Goods option is limited to your own connected accounts and your account contract with that carrier.
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🇺🇸 When shipping Dangerous Goods with USPS, you must select Ground Advantage as the service within ShipStation.
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🇺🇸 The United States Department of Transportation phased out ORM-D Consumer Commodity marking on packages containing limited quantities of low-risk hazardous materials at the end of 2020. Packages must be marked with the Limited Quantity marking in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Section 173.156.
Some carriers may have additional requirements beyond marking the product in ShipStation, like using specific services and other additional forms. Check with your carrier to ensure that your shipments meet these requirements.
These tables list a few major carriers by country and their requirements for shipping dangerous goods. Not all carriers we integrate with are listed here, and requirements may change over time and from carrier to carrier. Please be sure to check with your carrier about using specific services, packaging essentials, and any additional forms they may need for you to prepare.
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AustraliaPost. Read about limits and labeling information to ship dangerous goods by air and road in the Dangerous Goods Guide. Learn if your item is exempt by searching for it in the Prohibited and Restricted Items and Packaging Guide.
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for AustraliaPost MyPost Business nor with Australia Post from ShipStation.
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CouriersPlease. Only pre-approved EDI (Account) customers may ship some types of dangerous goods domestically, in limited quantities, by road or rail. Please see their Dangerous Goods Guide for Pre-approved Customers.
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DAI Post. When shipping with DAI Post, ensure items are securely packaged, properly labeled, and compliant, and check with your DAI Post account representative for specific requirements and the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding their policies to ship dangerous goods.
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DHL eCommerce - Dangerous Goods shipping through DHL eCommerce is not available in Australia or New Zealand.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly. See TNT Australia on this page.
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Lasership. Lasership is now part of Ontrac. Check with your Laserhsip account representative for specific requirements and the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding their policies to ship dangerous goods.
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StarTrack Please see the StarTrack tab on the Australia Post page called Sending dangerous goods. Read about limits and labeling information to ship dangerous goods by air and road in the Dangerous Goods Guide. Learn if your item is exempt by searching for it in the Prohibited and Restricted Items and Packaging Guide.
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TNT Australia. See their Shipping dangerous goods page as well as the Find dangerous goods page.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.
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"All Dangerous Goods shipments will only be accepted once it has been verified and reviewed by a trained Canpar Express DG specialist. Canpar Express will not transport any shipment that is prohibited by law from transporting and is inadequately or improperly prepared for ordinary transport."
See the Canpar Express Terms of Service for details about shipping dangerous goods.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.
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FedEx
Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for the ShipStation integration with FedEx. To ship dangerous goods with FedEx, you must log in to your FedEx account directly.
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UPS
Shipping dangerous goods is not allowed when creating UPS labels in ShipStation. If you are shipping dangerous goods, you must go through UPS directly.