Help with shipping lithium batteries
We have recently looked to ship sizable lithium batteries for equipment we manufacture. I can’t believe the problems and roadblocks we’ve encountered! Truckers won’t haul it (but it was shipped TO us!). Do we have a “Dangerous Goods” account (UPS, FedEx, DHL). Are we DG certified. DG packaging certified. Correct UN numbers. What is the DG classification, Chemtrec number… on and on. Soooo much we don’t know, and no one to tell us what we need to know!
After hours and hours of phone calls, and at least 20 emails, a freight forwarder we use a lot, pointed me to Midwest Crating, and a competitor (that didn’t get back to me).
Mark B from Midwest Crating was/is FANTASTIC to deal with. I told him we were newbies to shipping lithium batteries (to Europe and domestically), and even our battery vendor wasn’t giving us the info we needed. Mark TOOK HIS PRECIOUS, UNPAID TIME (and maybe some pity!) to answer many of my questions, helped me understand what was required for Dangerous Goods packaging, certifications and training places, got me a quote to package and ship a battery to a European customer (most difficult, immediate task I faced), and more.
Most of the phone/email “help” I previously received was “You need certifications”, Dangerous Goods account with us, UN this and that number, DG classification number, “Sorry, your battery is too large for us to ship”, barely the time of day… This man told me where to get training to eventually not need his services! HOW REFRESHING! MORE THAN A STARTING POINT! And we haven’t even spent a penny with him. Yet.
You, Mr. Mark B., are rare in my experience, and if our European customer says ”Yea”, we will see you soon!