FAA proposes penalties against DHL for alleged hazmat violations

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed seven civil penalties totaling $455,000 against DHL Express (USA) for allegedly violating Hazardous Materials (hazmat) regulations. In all the cases cited, the FAA is alleging that DHL accepted shipments that were not properly prepared for air transportation, and failed to ensure its employees or agents received required hazmat training.

All the shipments were discovered during inspections at the DHL Express package sorting facility in Erlanger, Kentucky. The proposed civil penalties are $65,000 for each case.

In an official statement issued yesterday (11 February), the FAA laid the allegations as follows:

“Dec. 13, 2013: DHL accepted a box containing printing ink, a flammable liquid, for shipment on an ABX Air cargo flight from Memphis, Tenn., to LeLude, France. The shipment was not accompanied by a dangerous goods declaration, the FAA alleges.

“March 24, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing a one-liter can of paint, a flammable liquid, for shipment on an Atlas Air flight from Roswell, Ga., to Victoria, Australia. The shipment was not accompanied by a dangerous goods declaration, the FAA alleges.

“April 25, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing fuel control assembly, which is classified as a dangerous good in machinery or apparatus, for shipment on an ABX Air cargo flight from Pompano Beach, Fla., to Rzeszow, Poland. The box had partially obscured orientation arrows and an improper shipping name.

“Aug. 13, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing a fuel/defuel cart, with a corrosive battery installed, for shipment on a cargo flight from a U.S. Army Warehouse in Poway, Calif., to Bagram, Afghanistan. The FAA alleges that the corrosive battery was not disconnected from its source and the shipment was not accompanied by a dangerous goods declaration.

“Aug. 14, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing an airbag module for shipment on an ABX Air cargo flight from Tijuana, Mexico, to Midlothian, Va. The shipment was not accompanied by a dangerous goods declaration, the FAA alleges.

“Sept. 15, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing two boxes of lithium ion batteries for shipment on an Atlas Air cargo flight from Hopkinton, Mass., to Hong Kong.  The FAA alleges that the shipment was not properly labeled.

“Sept. 18, 2014: DHL accepted a box containing an airbag module on an ABX Air cargo flight from St. James, N.Y. to Jung-Ku, Republic of Korea. The shipment was not accompanied by a dangerous goods declaration, the FAA alleges.”

DHL has asked to meet with the FAA to discuss the cases.