Canada Road & Rail Transport - Carrier Responsibilities for Documentation

A carrier must not take possession of dangerous goods for transport unless the carrier has the shipping document for the dangerous goods. A carrier who accepts an electronic copy of a shipping document must produce a printed shipping document from the electronic copy before taking possession of the dangerous goods for transport. Dangerous goods in transport are in the possession of a carrier from the time the carrier takes possession of them for transport until another person takes possession of them. While the dangerous goods are in transport and in the possession of a carrier, the carrier must keep the shipping document in certain locations discussed later in this section.

Before another carrier takes possession of the dangerous goods, the carrier must give the shipping document to that other carrier or, with that other carrier's agreement, an electronic copy of it. At or before the time a person, other than another carrier, takes possession of the dangerous goods, the carrier must give that person a document that identifies the dangerous goods. A carrier may replace a shipping document provided by the consignor with a new shipping document or with a copy of the shipping document in a different format.

Note that a person may be both a consignor and a carrier of the same consignment (for example, a manufacturer who also transports the dangerous goods he or she produces).

To learn more about Transporting Dangerous Goods in Canada visit our Transporting Dangerous Good by Road & Rail Online Training web page.