Shipping Dangerous Goods

Dangerous Goods in their day to day use may not be that dangerous, but the can become dangerous when they are exposed to unusual movement, changes in temperature and atmosphere. Anything that can cause harm to those transporting the items must be correctly labelled as Dangerous Goods.

When a company ships its own goods from A to B, they know if there are transporting dangerous goods. But couriers often pick up packages from many different sources, so they are relying on the person sending these packages to know what they are sending and to respect the regulations and laws.

Are you sending Dangerous Goods?

• Make sure you know exactly what is included in your shipment.
• Crosscheck your parcel’s contents with what’s below to see if it is classified as a Dangerous Good.
• If in doubt, contact the Collect Same Day Courier customer service team and explain exactly what you are attempting to send.

Prohibited Household Items

Many of us don’t realise that the goods we send are prohibited for transport. At Collect Same Day Couriers, we want to make sure that you know what should be labelled as a Dangerous Good.

Perfume

Perfume is one of the most common goods that are sent by courier that end up destroyed or returned. Perfumes also include aftershave and any other fragrances. Generally, perfume contains large amounts of alcohol and alcohol can catch fire very easily. Don’t forget that perfume is also usually found within glass bottles, shipping this product has great potential to pose danger to those transporting it.

Alcohol

Licensing laws, flammability and underage drinking are all reasons that sending alcohol in the mail is not legal in most countries. When it comes to alcohol shipping in Europe, most courier companies do not allow the transport of alcoholic beverages. However, there are still some companies that allow shipping alcohol under specific circumstances.

Aerosols

Aerosols, such as deodorants, are identified as dangerous due to the fact that they are made up of compressed gas. This poses a threat as most aerosols also include flammable components such as alcohol. If compressed gas is allowed to exceed 52°C then it faces the possibility of explosion.

Batteries

What makes them lithium batteries different from the regular alkaline batteries is that they’re significantly more powerful, they’re light too. It’s these reasons why they’re found in many mobiles and other portable electronic devices we use today. The difficulty with posting or shipping lithium batteries and their associated devices is that in certain conditions, lithium batteries are extremely flammable. In the wrong setting, lithium batteries can overheat and burst into flames. What’s more, lithium fires are difficult to extinguish. If a lithium fire broke out in a van, or even a plane, it could be a terrible disaster. As a case in point, the UPS Flight 6 crash of 2013 was caused by the explosion of a shipment of lithium-ion batteries.

Mailing Nail Varnish

Nail Varnish may seem like an innocent gift to send to someone via courier, but it is classed as a Dangerous Good as it is extremely flammable. Due to the fact that the majority of nail polish is contained within glass bottles they also carry the risk of breaking and spreading their flammable contents beyond just the area where the nail polish is located.

If you would like any more information on how to correctly label your goods, then please get in touch with Collect Same Day Couriers.

Contact Collect Same Day Couriers for any delivery needs you have. We collect parcels from all over the UK so give us a call or send us an email and we can give you a quote on your same day delivery.