Posted: 5/4/2010 5:34:09 PM EDT
| I want to get my hazmat endorsment for UPS so I can ship hazardous materials. UPS offers the training course but it costs $550. I am not paying that much. Does anyone know anywhere else to get the training and certification from? |
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http://www.hazmatschool.com/descriptions/DOT_1058_information.html It is my understanding that it is not a "UPS" course that is required and employers are required to provide training to the "Hazardous Materials Employee". I find this interesting because I interpret it as you are self-employed, you couldn't train yourself –– but you could train another person as the "employee" without needing special training (meeting the guidelines of training per the feds). |
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Here is the whole course list. Apparently for an extra $5 you can add on the "packaging" component. Or for only $120, you too can become a certifiable certified "OSHA Hazardous Waste Supervisor". http://www.hazmatschool.com/HScourses.html |
Are you talking about shipping Dangerous Goods via air (49CFR or ICAO)... or Hazardous Materials? You can self certify to ship DG - you just need to document it (such as as test / exam). Refresher training is required every 3 yrs. The FAA will come knocking and want to see your Shipping Declarations and documented training - so keep them handy...had this happen 
I've also heard that they can pull the Shipping Dec and call the emergency contact number at 2AM, just to make sure you are aware of DG in transit and the person that answers has the MSDS available - but I have not had this happen (yet). Shipping HazMat is the realm of companies who specialize in such things (and charge $2 PER florescent light bulb to dispose of...) FedEx also gives very good training. I went to it a couple years ago when I sent a couple of my guys - FedEx had a pay for two seats, get one free deal. I don't remember how much it was , but I seem to recall it being cheaper than UPS for some reason. |
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I am going to look into the school you listed Hawz, they just might be what I need. I am going to contact UPS and verify what they require.
Yes I want this to be able to ship powder and primers, but I also need it to ship ammo to HI, and AK. This is something I have wanted to try and do for a while but until recently have not needed to put much effort into getting it done. Let me tell you a little tale. Keep in mind I have not made any of this up and truth is far better than fiction. A few weeks ago there was a fund raiser for an Arfcom members friend, who is also a cop in another state. Turns out this officer found out he has terminal cancer. The fundraiser is to raise money for his family. I decided to donate 500rds of 223 ammo to the raffle they were having. The name was drawn and I got the info and contacted the winner. I made the ammo and boxed it up. To this point I had not noticed his address. I log on to create a UPS label through my UPS account on the UPS site. It is then I noticed he lived in Alaska. Not a big deal I thought, I just knew it would cost more to ship it. I select ground shipping as my mode of transport. (Keep in mind ground is the only way this type of hazmat can go without paperwork ) Print, label..... Next day I bring all of my packages to the hub in Elm Grove. The employees scan and weigh all the packages and send them down the ramp. Fast forward 2 days and I get an email from UPS about the package going to Alaska. It says there is a hazmat exception or something and the package will be returned to the shipper from where it is being held at the hub in Kentucky. I promptly call UPS to find out what is going on. Customer service can't help me so they transfer me to the hazmat division. They explain to me about how I cannot ship that way to HI,AK, and the Dominican Republic without a hazmat endorsement. I did not know that it had to take a plane ride to AK. My fault I just figured by selecting ground that it went that way. After all the guy at the hub checked all my packages. UPS tells me that they give the ground shipping rate for air shipments and it does not mean it is going ground. Good to know I guess. I guess I should have thought about it more. Anyway I spent another 45 minutes on the phone with UPS trying to get a refund for the package that didn't get shipped. I went through 2 supervisors all of which claimed that I could not ship hazmat of any kind anywhere through UPS. In any event the last supervisor claims he will give me the refund because all the books tell him that I cannot ship hazmat goods, but he knows that's not true.
Next day I get an email from the winner, stating that the package is in Anchorage, and could I call to have them hold it so one of his friends could get it. I think WTF!? Well hell it made it there, I am not sure why but maybe I can get this to the guy after all. I call UPS customer service only to be told they cannot help me and send me off to the hazmat division.  I get transferred and then have to listen to the woman tell me how I cannot send hazmat goods without an endorsement. I am trying to explain what is going on but she won't listen and keeps insisting that I cannot ship hazmat. I get a little accertive and ask her if she could just be quiet for 2 minutes and allow me to explain I could get this cleared up. She agrees. I explain the drawn out story, to which she asks only now for the tracking number. I hear her start laughing on the other end of the phone. I start to chuckle thinking she is looking at the same screen and seeing the follie of all of the events that have transpired to this point. She proceeds to tell me that the package cannot be delivered or held in Anchorage because it is no longer in AK, it's back in Kentucky! Apparently they don't update their tracking info as often as they should. At this point I stop being mad and just start to laugh. After all I could not make shit like this happen even if I tried. So I say to her. "Let me get this right. While I may have made the mistake about how the package is shipped, your guys at the hub here failed to stop the package. Your guys in Kentucky flagged the package, but sent it on anyway at which point you broke federal law by shipping without paperwork. It arrived at the hub in AK, and nobody there said "I will put it on a truck and get it to where it needs to go. After all it's here already." They decide to break federal law again and put it back on a plane and ship it without paperwork back to the hub in Kentucky.?" She said, "Well, yes." She proceeds to say, "we use Air Alaska to transport our packages, and they are sticklers for paperwork." I said, "apparently not." She then tells me that my package may be held longer in Kentucky for some reason.
Anyway I have the box back and I still need to find a way to get it to my guy in AK. This is why I want my hazmat endorsement, so I can ship the occasional package to HI, and AK without it costing me an arm and a leg. That and primers and powder of course. |
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Yes UPS sucks and the truth is stranger than fiction. Many years ago back in the younger days I sold a big fancy high-end monitor via AOL (or maybe it was ExecPC), really needed the cash, had just unexpectedly lost my decent paying job and some toys had to go (young and dumb purchasing, no saving). This was back when brand name high-res big flat tube monitors were expensive before the LCD action. It was sent COD with certified funds, etc. Shipping was expensive. It was a week late in arriving back from UPS in their envelope because they had some issue somewhere along the line with misdirecting it. They said they would refund the fee for that service, wow, how helpful. Had used a mail box place for packaging and sending so that made it extra complicated (they would get the credit first against their account). Whatever. So the day it arrives, I'm in a big hurry to get it deposited (which I wouldn't have been a week earlier when it was due) and am running late, bank is about to close. Some lady stopped dead in front of me quickly (right after passing through an intersection) moving slowly and I locked em –– extremely lightly –– bumping her trailer hitch receiver tip/ball. We're in the middle of three lanes. Apparently she didn't want to miss a turn to the shopping entrance. No damage, no scuff, no nothing. It was like a slow motion slide and tap. Small mark on my license plate frame area perfectly centered. Got out and exchanged info, explained I had to get to the bank. OK, no problem. I left, she was pulling in as was her original intention. Got to the bank, deposited check, took 1/4 of it in cash. Later that night I have a phone message from the lady about how we need to work out a deal because of her sore back she was going to have since she had back problems in the past and needed surgery and had previous back surgery and this aggravated it, etc. but if I call her we can work something out, blah blah. Next day the vehicle is parked at home on the street and I was out. I get dropped off at home to hear from the neighbor that the suburban police (multiple) were there in the city knocking on the door for a while (a light was on so they were persistent, doors, windows, etc.) and were taking pictures of my vehicle. It had a small crunch above the left wheel well with some rust that was fiberglass/bondo repaired some time back and looked "newer". Apparently that was their area of interest. It couldn't possibly be related even if I hit her at 65. No information left by police or anything else. Later a mailed copy of a follow-up report from the lead accident investigator and reconstruction expert had details about the "extensive damage" on that wheel area etc. since I wasn't present to interview when they visited. It even said there was no damage to her vehicle. It was an unbelievable piece-of-crap report the likes of which you wouldn't believe. Of course, you can guess what happened next. The check bounced (four figure check). It was a total fabrication of a Cashier's Check. The story goes further in that the police started talking about hit and run because although I gave her my contact info –– she decided to stay behind and call the police on the spot, claiming worse and I wasn't there when they arrived. It was later learned she pulled in her destination and used the payphone to call them. She was concerned about her back because she had issues in the past but didn't need any attention at the time. Admitted no physical damage at all but was "hit very hard" so on and so forth. Meanwhile, the next days as I am trying to pursue the monitor, a whole scheme in which the recipient was able to trick UPS and somehow change the delivery address more than once –– the final of which was some abandoned apartment played out. Of course, this final location was in Detroit somewhere. After all of their investigating, no one was able to determine who did it and UPS wouldn't do anything and they are "not responsible". The police in Detroit were useless. I believe that they have modified policies a bit since but the bottom line is they are just handling the COD and they don't accept responsibility. The correct solution would have been to sue them regarding the negligent address changes but of course, I wasn't in a position to do that $ wise. Of course, today, I would be taking a hunting self-investigatory expedition to crapville. It continued down hill, didn't find a job, had to move out, woman milked her insurance to fix her pre-existing back problems to the tune of six figures and the first number wasn't a one...on and on and on. Guess I should have paid her off the way she wanted for a couple grand I didn't have to give her anyway. My bank (for years) even tried to go beyond the normal collection for the $ via their "Internal Security" group implying the act of cashing the check and withdrawing $ at the same time implied it was a criminal act and intentional such that they would file charges. Which really turned out to be a bunch of B.S. collection measures but after everything else had me crapping the pants as well. I haven't thought about this for a long while and after reading this all popped in my head. I'm not one to blame other people and life circumstances at the time are my own problem but UPS contributed to the pain for sure. Yeah, fuck UPS. |
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I work for a "common carrier". As pointed out above, the regs regarding shipment of hazardous materials only require that a "hazmat employee" be trained in hazmat regulations. Self certification is acceptable.
UPS may have a policy of requiring a shipper to present some sort of documentation to them that they have the required training as a CYA measure (federal enforcement of hazmat is extremely thorough and violations are costly), but that is above and beyond what the federal regs require. Go here http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat If you have any other questions, just like ATF, contact your local DOT office and speak with their hazmat inspector. They're from the government, and here to help. Just be ready for an inspection! |