Shipping Illegally is Dangerous and Costly

Knowing what products and quantities ship as dangerous goods or hazardous materials is essential to protecting your company from dangerous and costly non-compliant fines. Shipping a regulated product or quantity in the public domain must comply with requirements per the Code of Federal Regulations. For instance, customers frequently call and ask us to mail them small quantities of touch-up paint. Knowing that most paints contain some quantity of solvent, mailing such an item through the US Postal Service is illegal, and thus we are not able to comply with these requests. However, we wish to explain that if you offer for shipment any material that has been determined to be a hazardous material by the US-DOT, you must comply with the HazMat Regs (49 CFR) Parts 171-180. Violations of the HMR could result in civil penalties in the range of $250 to $55,000 plus possible imprisonment. Undeclared hazmat shipments, especially those shipped by air, pose a great safety risk because they are not properly marked. If a leak occurs, the improper preparation can lead to serious injury and even fatalities. To understand if you are shipping, mailing, or in any way transporting a hazardous material, we have made special arrangements with Mr. Gene Sanders, of W.E. Train Consulting in Tampa, FL to address these questions. At no initial charge, Gene will assist Skolnik customers and potential customers for up to 15 minutes to determine if the product they are shipping is a regulated product and thereby subject to the shipping requirements of the CFR. If it is a regulated product, Gene will then charge to assist in package selection and determinations of documentation requirements. To contact Gene Sanders, you can reach him directly at: 813-855-3855 or gene@wetrainconsulting.com.