If you are sending freight that is classified as dangerous goods, most of the legal responsibility sits with you, the sender, not with the carrier. That surprises a lot of businesses. The Australian Dangerous Goods Code puts the duty to classify, package, mark, label and document the goods on the person consigning them, and those duties apply whether you are sending a pallet of solvents or one carton of aerosols.
This guide explains what counts as dangerous goods, how to find out what you are actually sending, what you need to declare to us, and the paperwork that has to travel with it. It is written for the business sending the freight, not for a dangerous goods specialist.
One thing to be clear about up front: we carry dangerous goods only where they have been fully declared in writing before booking and we have accepted them in writing. We are not a dangerous goods specialist carrier, and we do not classify your goods for you. Tell us what you have and we will tell you honestly whether we can carry it.
The everyday items people do not realise are dangerous goods
Most undeclared dangerous goods are not someone trying to hide something. They are ordinary products that nobody thought twice about. The ones we see most often:
- Aerosols of any kind, including spray paint, deodorant, insect spray, lubricant spray and air freshener.
- Paint, solvents, thinners, turpentine and resins.
- Alcohol-based hand sanitiser, which is a flammable liquid in commercial quantities.
- Nail polish, nail polish remover and perfume.
- Adhesives, contact cement and some sealants.
- Pool and spa chemicals, including chlorine and acid.
- Cleaning and industrial chemicals, particularly oven cleaners, drain cleaners and descalers.
- Gas bottles and cylinders, full or empty, including LPG and CO2.
- Lithium batteries, loose or inside equipment.
- Engines, mowers, generators, pumps and machinery that hold or have held fuel or oil.
- Fuel, oil and coolant in drums, jerry cans or IBCs.
Being sold on a shop shelf does not make a product exempt. Quantity matters, packaging matters, and the classification belongs to the product, not to the retailer.
How to find out what you are sending
You do not have to work this out from first principles. The answer is on the Safety Data Sheet for the product, which the manufacturer or supplier must make available.
Go to Section 14, Transport information. It will give you:
- The UN number — a four-digit number, for example UN 1263.
- The proper shipping name — the formal name for transport, which is often not the product’s brand name.
- The class or division — for example Class 3 for flammable liquids.
- Any subsidiary risk.
- The packing group — I, II or III, indicating the degree of danger.
If Section 14 says the product is not regulated for transport, keep a copy of the sheet anyway. If there is no Safety Data Sheet, or Section 14 is blank or unclear, ask your supplier in writing before you book the freight. Do not guess, and do not ask us to guess.
What you must declare to us, and when
Declare before you book, not when the driver arrives. We need, in writing:
- The UN number, proper shipping name, class or division and packing group for every dangerous good in the consignment.
- The quantity — net quantity per package and the total.
- The number and type of packages — for example 4 fibreboard boxes, each with 12 × 500 mL bottles.
- Whether it is packed as a limited quantity or excepted quantity.
- A copy of the Safety Data Sheet.
- A 24-hour emergency contact who can be reached while the freight is in transit and who knows what the product is.
Our quote form has a dangerous goods tick box that opens a class list, and a second tick box for liquids, fuels, oils and batteries. Use them. Put the UN number and proper shipping name in the notes. The office assesses every request before we accept a job, and declaring early means you get a straight answer before you have packed anything.
The transport document
Dangerous goods travelling by road need a dangerous goods transport document. It is the document that tells everyone handling the freight — our team, the linehaul driver, and emergency services if something goes wrong — exactly what is on the vehicle.
It must identify the consignor and the consignee, and for each dangerous good state the UN number, proper shipping name, class or division, subsidiary risk, packing group, and the quantity and number of packages. It must be accurate. A transport document that understates what is actually in the consignment is worse than none, because the emergency response will be built on it.
You prepare this document, because you are the only one who knows what is in the packages. We will tell you what we need and check it is complete before the freight moves, but we cannot write it for you.
Packaging, marking and labelling
Dangerous goods must be in packaging approved for the class and packing group, in good condition, closed properly, and able to survive normal handling in a road freight and cross-dock network. Our general packaging guide covers the basics that apply to all freight; dangerous goods have requirements on top of those.
Each package must carry the correct class label — the diamond — along with the UN number and proper shipping name. Marks and labels must be durable, visible and not obscured by shrink wrap, strapping or other labels. If you are palletising, the labels still have to be readable on the outside of the pallet.
Incompatible goods cannot travel together, so tell us if your consignment contains more than one class. Above certain quantities, which vary by class, the vehicle itself must be placarded and the driver appropriately licensed — another reason we need the full picture before we commit to a job.
Limited quantities
Many smaller consignments can be sent as limited quantity, where dangerous goods are packed in small inner containers inside a strong outer package. This reduces some of the packaging, marking and documentation requirements and is common for retail and online orders.
Limited quantity does not mean “not dangerous goods”. The limited quantity mark still has to be on the outer package, there are limits on inner container size and total package weight, and you still have to tell us. It changes the paperwork; it does not remove your duty to declare.
Lithium batteries
Lithium batteries deserve their own section, because they are the fastest-growing problem in freight and the rules depend on details that are easy to miss.
How they are packed changes the classification. Batteries sent on their own are treated differently from batteries fitted inside equipment, which are treated differently again from batteries packed alongside equipment in the same carton. The common UN numbers are UN 3480 and UN 3481 for lithium ion, and UN 3090 and UN 3091 for lithium metal, all Class 9. Your Safety Data Sheet or the battery manufacturer will tell you which applies.
Things to get right:
- Protect against short circuit. Terminals covered, batteries in individual inner packaging, nothing conductive loose in the carton.
- Tell us whether they are loose, in equipment, or packed with equipment. It changes everything downstream.
- Damaged, defective or recalled batteries are a separate category with much stricter requirements, and are generally refused. If a battery is swollen, leaking, overheated or has been recalled, tell us before you do anything else — do not pack it and hope.
- Second-hand and returned equipment often contains batteries nobody declared. If you are sending back a customer return, check what is inside it.
Engines, mowers, generators and machinery
This is the one that catches people out most often, because the item does not look like a chemical. A used engine, a mower, a generator, a pump, a chainsaw or a piece of machinery that has held fuel or oil can still contain enough residue to leak, give off vapour or ignite.
Whether it is classified as dangerous goods depends on what remains inside and whether the fuel system has been drained and purged. The Code addresses engines and fuel-powered machinery specifically, and the answer is not the same for a factory-new engine that has never been run and a trade-in that came off a vehicle last week.
Our position is straightforward. We accept items of this kind only where:
- They have been drained of free liquid — fuel, oil and coolant.
- Openings, sumps and fuel lines are plugged, capped or taped so nothing can escape.
- They are presented on a pallet with a sealed liner and absorbent material where we ask for it, and secured so they cannot move.
- You have told us before booking and we have agreed in writing.
Even where an item is not classified as dangerous goods, a leak in a cross-dock can contaminate other customers’ freight, and our Conditions of Carriage hold you responsible for the clean-up, whether or not the goods were dangerous goods. It is a genuinely expensive thing to get wrong, and a five-minute phone call avoids it.
If it is not declared
Our Conditions of Carriage allow us to refuse, hold, return, neutralise or dispose of undeclared or non-compliant dangerous goods at your cost and without compensation, and you indemnify us against the resulting loss, clean-up costs, fines and penalties.
That is the commercial consequence. The legal consequence is separate and sits with you regardless of our terms. Dangerous goods duties and Chain of Responsibility obligations reach back to the business that consigned the freight, and an undeclared consignment can expose your business to enforcement action even though someone else was driving.
Where to get the right answer
Nothing in this guide is a substitute for the Code itself or for advice about your particular product. The Australian Dangerous Goods Code, Edition 7.9, has been mandatory since 1 October 2025 and is published by the National Transport Commission. For classification, the authority is your product’s Safety Data Sheet and your supplier or dangerous goods adviser.
If you send dangerous goods regularly, it is worth having one person in your business who owns the paperwork and keeps the Safety Data Sheets current. It makes every consignment faster, and it is the difference between a declaration that takes two minutes and a load that sits on our dock.
Sending dangerous goods with us
Declare it before you book. Send us the UN number, proper shipping name, class, packing group, quantities and the Safety Data Sheet, and we will tell you whether we can carry it, what it will cost and how long it will take. If it is going interstate it travels on our linehaul partners’ network, and their acceptance rules apply as well as ours, so the earlier you ask the better.
If you are not sure whether what you are sending is dangerous goods, say so. Tick “Not sure — please advise” on the quote form, or call us on 1300 882 117. We would far rather have the conversation before the freight is packed.
Published by All Freight Carrying, Yandina, Sunshine Coast · 22 October 2026 · Last updated 25 October 2026
