Ship hazmat
without the
headaches.

What counts as hazmat

The DOT sorts hazardous materials into nine hazard classes — explosives, gases, flammable liquids, flammable solids, oxidizers, toxic and infectious substances, radioactive materials, corrosives, and a miscellaneous class that catches things like lithium batteries and dry ice. The surprise for most shippers is how ordinary the list gets in practice: batteries, aerosols, paints, adhesives, cleaning chemicals, and hand sanitizer are all commonly regulated hazmat. If your product carries a warning label at retail, it's worth checking before it goes on a truck.

The authority on all of it is the DOT's Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR), administered by PHMSA. This page is general information, not compliance advice — hazmat compliance obligations rest with the shipper, and the Hazardous Materials Regulations govern.

What the regulations expect from you

Under the regulations, the shipper — not the carrier, not the broker — is responsible for offering the material correctly. That generally means:

• Classification. Identifying the material's UN number, proper shipping name, hazard class, and packing group where one applies. This is the foundation everything else builds on.
• Packaging. Using packaging authorized for the material — commonly UN-specification packaging tested for the hazard involved.
• Marking and labeling. The right hazard labels and markings on each package, applied so they're visible and legible.
• Shipping papers. A hazmat-compliant bill of lading showing the required description in the required order, a shipper's certification, and a 24-hour emergency response phone number. Our bill of lading guide covers the BOL basics that hazmat builds on.
• Training. Employees who prepare or offer hazmat shipments generally must be trained and retrained on a recurring cycle set by the regulations.

How hazmat works in LTL specifically

LTL adds its own layer. Your pallet shares a trailer with other shippers' freight and gets cross-docked through terminals, so carriers manage hazmat carefully — and differently from one another.

• Declare it at quote time. Not all carriers accept all hazard classes or quantities, so the declaration determines which carriers can even see the shipment. Declaring after booking usually means re-quoting; declaring never is worse — see below.
• Expect a hazmat fee. Hazmat handling is a standard accessorial on most tariffs. Declared up front, it's a known line item on the quote; our accessorial guide explains why that timing matters for every fee.
• Segregation rules can affect routing. Some materials can't ride together on the same trailer, which can influence which carrier, which terminal path, and how fast the freight moves.

What happens if you don't declare

Undeclared hazmat gets discovered — at the dock, at a terminal inspection, or worst of all after an incident. The freight can be refused or returned mid-route, and civil penalties under federal law can apply to the shipper, commonly assessed per violation and per day. The amounts vary and are adjusted over time, but they are routinely large enough to erase whatever the hazmat fee would have cost many times over. And if an undeclared material damages other freight, equipment, or people, the liability conversation starts with the party who didn't declare it.

How a 3PL helps

Two practical things. First, carrier matching: we know which carriers in the network accept which classes and quantities, so a declared hazmat shipment goes to a carrier that will actually move it — no dock rejections, no mid-route surprises. Second, quote accuracy: the hazmat fee goes on the quote up front, and FoxIQ Pickup screens every booking before dispatch so a hazmat flag, a missing emergency contact, or a service mismatch gets caught before the truck rolls. Classification stays your responsibility under the regulations — but everything downstream of a correct declaration is work we can carry.