PHMSA Increases Penalties for 2025

Once again, another year has kicked off with changes that immediately affect dangerous goods shippers. While the new year often brings fresh beginnings and new resolutions, PHMSA has also taken the opportunity to raise penalties for non-compliance when shipping dangerous goods. On December 28, 2024, PHMSA issued a final rule announcing adjusted civil penalty amounts for 2025 applicable to violations that are specific to the dangerous goods regulations. These changes highlight the importance of maintaining up-to-date knowledge and compliance to prevent costly penalties.

What will be changing?

As in previous years under the 2015 Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act, PHMSA has announced an increase in penalties for non-compliance related to shipping dangerous goods. This act aims to discourage shippers from disregarding the dangerous goods regulations. To calculate the 2025 adjustment, PHMSA multiplied the maximum or minimum penalty amounts by the percentage change between the October 2023 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI–U) and the October 2024 CPI–U. For this adjustment, the percentage change was 1.02598, resulting in all penalties being increased by a factor of 1.02598. For example:

A Violation by an individual or small business concern related to the transportation of hazardous materials is going from $16,630 to $17,062.
The minimum penalty for violation of hazardous materials transportation law relating to training is going from $601 to $617.
The maximum penalty for violation of hazardous materials transportation law relating to training is going from $99,756 to $102,348.
A violation of hazardous materials transportation law resulting in death, serious illness, severe injury, or substantial property destruction is going from $232,762 to $238,809.

The complete list of changes can be found here.

The Key to Avoiding Penalties

The key to avoiding these penalties is knowledge in the various dangerous goods regulations, and the best way to receive this knowledge is through training, which is the foundation of compliance. Not only is training mandatory, but it also equips you with the knowledge needed to select the appropriate packaging, labels, placards, and dangerous goods declarations. Comprehensive training in the dangerous goods regulations is essential to protecting both you and your company from potential penalties.

Do you have questions about Training? Take a look at the Training Courses that ICC offers or contact our team of experts at 855.734.5469 or send us an email, we’re happy to help.