Can you ship DG and non-DG Together in One Package?

This post was originally published in June 2018 and has been updated in November 2020 for accuracy.

Surprisingly this is pretty common. Normally the answer is, “Sure.”

However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes a dangerous goods commodity can react with a non-dangerous goods commodity. I do come across this type of situation occasionally.

Shipping from Canada to USA via Air

Earlier this week a client dropped off 2 different product samples going to USA via air transport. He provided the SDS for both products, one was DG and the other not. He asked if both samples can go together in one package. I told him, “Maybe.” Without consulting the SDSs and gathering more information I couldn’t be sure. If they are compatible, then I can package them together.

I used to work in the carrier industry so I know it’s better to consolidate than to have a multiple piece shipment. Most times all the pieces will arrive together, but there is a chance they may not. So for me, personally, I prefer to minimize the number of packages, which means using a bigger box if I need to.

Determining Compatibility

So back to this. I checked the SDS for both and the one that was DG was a corrosive material.

The non-DG product requires a more thorough read-through to see which material this material was incompatible with and in Section 10: Stability and Reactivity it said incompatible with oxidizing materials and acids.

Now back to the DG SDS. It was an acid so it’s better to separate the shipment into 2 packages. The samples were 1 litre each. Although, technically, I could have packaged them together with lots of vermiculite separating the 2 products, I prefer to take extra precautions.

So, with the client’s blessing, I packaged each sample separately using plenty of vermiculite and shipped them out. I tracked the status the next day and thankfully both boxes arrived together at their destination.

So sure you can put DG and non-DG together in the same package; however, always check the compatibility of the two products.

Stay up to date and sign up for our newsletter!

We have all the products, services and training you need to ensure your staff is properly trained and informed.