In late December 2014, Transport Canada (TC) revised the TDG regulations specifically dealing with Lithium Metal Batteries, ERAP’s and Updates to Schedules. Among the changes introduced of interest to carriers that falls under the category of Updates to Schedules is how Dangerous Goods (DG’s) are described on Shipping Documents.
When introduced, Transport Canada provided a 6-month transition period for Shipping Documents to comply with the new description requirements which revised the order in which DG’s are listed. The transition period ended in June 2015.
The information that must be listed on a Shipping Document and how DG’s must be described and the order in which the UN #, product description, primary class and packing group must appear is found in Part 3.5 of the TDG Regulations — http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/clear-part3-317.htm#sec35
Part 3.1 and 3.2 of the TDG regulations specify Consignor and Carrier Responsibilities respectively as it pertains to DG Documentation. Carriers are encouraged to review both Parts 3.1 and 3.2 — http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/clear-part3-317.htm#sec31
The Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Truck Handbook produced by the Canadian Trucking Alliance and available through OTA covers all of the most recent updates to the TDG regulations. For more information, please visit the OTA Store