Shipping Toxic Materials – What You Should Know

Service Transport Inc in Greer is no stranger to shipping toxic and hazardous materials up and down the East Coast. In fact, we have passed and obtain all necessary certificates to do so, and keep up with HAZMAT standards on a regular basis. If you’ve found yourself or your company in need of toxic material shipping, here is what you should know...

Toxic materials and hazardous materials, commonly referred to as HAZMAT, have specific safety instructions when it comes to freight shipping. To start, all packaging must be properly labeled, secured and loaded onto 18-wheeler trucks with unique HAZMAT identification numbers. HAZMAT must also be transported by a driver with proper certifications and be shipped with a company that has all those driver certifications on file.

When shipping toxic materials, it’s important to know the level of hazard that each type of item is rated by the DOT (department of transportation). Level 1, being the highest hazard, includes explosives and gases, whereas level 9 is the lowest level of hazard, which typically includes miscellaneous items labeled as ‘dangerous’ (think small batteries or toys containing batteries).

With all that said, our team and many freight shippers nationwide, are called on often to transport toxic materials, chemicals and other dangerous items. It is considered safe to ship toxic materials so long as each freight transportation agency follows DOT guidelines, packs and labels their materials properly, and keeps hazardous materials separated from incompatible shipping items. This means that a level 8 (corrosive liquid) should not be shipped with a level 4 (flammable gas) or a level 1 (explosive) should not be shipped with a level 4 or 5 (gas or oxidizing material).

Choose Service Transport for Toxic Material Shipping

If you or your company are in need of HAZMAT and toxic material shipping, reach out to the team at Service Transport Inc in Greer, South Carolina. Our distribution center and warehousing facility is turning out drivers each day to transport HAZMAT or other freight goods across regional destinations like Charlotte, Nashville and Atlanta. Give us a call to get matched with a route today!