Exceptions - Limited & Small Quantities

Some packages are shipped as exceptions; these include limited and small quantities, agricultural products, materials of trade, and lab packs. Packaging exceptions are not the same as Special Permits.

Limited quantity shipments are excepted from specification packaging and placarding in all modes of transportation. Also, except for Division 6.1 materials or materials transported by aircraft, a limited quantity is excepted from labeling.

Some small quantities of certain hazardous materials are excluded from many of the requirements of the regulatory table or list, including marking, labeling, placarding, and shipping paper requirements. Small quantities are even smaller amounts per package than limited quantities. The materials covered by the small quantity exceptions include the following:

• Flammable liquids
• Flammable solids
• Spontaneously combustible materials
• Dangerous when wet materials
• Oxidizers
• Organic peroxides
• Poisonous materials
• Corrosives

The IATA packing and packaging section of this course will further break down package and packaging requirements by class. While these are specific to IATA, they are an additional set of guidelines that may benefit all modes of transportation.

To learn more about Multimodal Shipping visit our Multimodal DOT, IATA & IMDG HAZMAT Shipping Online Training web page.