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Hazmat

Playing the Hazmat Shipping Game (And Winning)

The Dangerous Goods rule book is much larger than a sports rule book, which is why you need hazmat shipping MVP to win the parcel shipping game.

Today’s top athletes earn their championship rings and MVP status through their skill, training and knowledge of the game. During the offseason they are hard at work learning the team’s plays, practicing their skill and working to maintain their physical fitness. And when it is game time, they are performing their best while predicting their competitor’s next play in order to win.

What you don’t see professional athletes or coaches doing during games is reviewing the rule book. The USA women’s soccer team didn’t use any of the 90 minutes of the World Cup game to go over the offside rules. Recently named NBA MVP Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t earn the title by questioning if the shot clock has 24 or 30 seconds. These athletes have learned the rule book and know it like the back of their hand – and are using it to their advantage.

Just like professional athletes use rules as the foundation of their skills and strategies to win, shippers can do the same with Dangerous Goods compliance.

Superior compliance makes you a stronger competitor. In fact, in Labelmaster’s most recent Global Dangerous Goods Confidence Outlook, 23% of hazmat pros said their companies viewed compliance as a competitive advantage.

The Dangerous Goods Rule Book

The Dangerous Goods rule book is a lot like sport rule books. Shippers need to learn the shipping hazmat regulations under PHMSA, IATA, IMO and other governing bodies to compete in their industry. The shippers that understand and comply with these rules have more streamlined shipping processes and create better customer experiences than their competitors.

Unfortunately, the Dangerous Goods rule book is much larger and harder to learn than any sport’s rule book. The 49CFR alone is more than a thousand pages, and that’s not including the other regulatory bodies shippers need to comply with. Add in how often hazmat shipping rules change and become more complex each year, and it is nearly impossible for any shipper to know the Dangerous Goods regulations 24/7/365.

Find Your Shipping MVP

Because of this, shippers need to find a hazmat shipping MVP – a robust, flexible system that instantly validates shipment data against internal rule engines that are updated every time there is a regulation change, ensuring complete compliancy. This system should streamline the shipping process to produce fully compliant documentation in just seconds for each shipment.

By using a hazmat shipping MVP, like ProShip’s new Integrated LableMaster Add-On, shippers can experience reduced fines, fewer stopped shipments and less supply chain delays. Not only does this create a more reliable, quicker shipping process but it improves the customer experience. Your customers no longer need to bet on if the shipment will be delayed as the documentation is always compliant to the latest Dangerous Goods rule changes.

A version of this blog was originally written and published by Labelmaster in April 2019. To view the original, please go here.

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