Does your company rely on you to keep it in compliance with for-hire carrier freight classifications, rules, and regulations? If so, you might also be in a position to be of further service by becoming its adviser on carrier protective packaging requirements—if that base isn't already being covered.

Many larger companies have in-house packaging engineers who are very knowledgeable in this area. Many others lean on outside packaging suppliers or packaging consultants to provide that expertise—and many do a good job at it.

On the other hand, during my years of involvement in both transportation and packaging, I have run into many instances where no one in-house is very knowledgeable about carrier protective packaging requirements and the company relies heavily on its packaging suppliers to make sure it is compliant. And that faith may be misplaced.

If you should take on this responsibility, it really isn't an onerous task. Besides individual carriers' rules tariffs, which generally contain any protective packaging requirements a carrier may have established, two other key sources of information are the motor carrier industry's National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) and the railroad industry's Uniform Freight Classification (UFC)—publications you may already be using on a daily basis.

For those companies shipping LTL freight via general commodity motor carriers, the NMFC is by far the most important source of packaging requirements for that group's 1,600 or more participating carriers.

Here are some of the major packaging requirements you should become familiar with:

• The types of packages that are authorized for the commodities you are shipping—shown immediately following the classification description. Examples include "in boxes or crates," "in bags," "in drums," "in numbered packages, such as in 'Package 8F'for set-up wooden chairs," or "loose."
• Packaging definitions, such as "wrapped" found in Item 680 of the NMFC, or "crates" in Item 245, or terms and abbreviations in Item 222-6.
• General specifications for "fibreboard boxes, corrugated or solid" published in Items 222 through 222-6.
• Item 180—Performance Testing of Shipping Containers, and Item 181—Furniture Package Performance Testing.
• The minimum specifications for various numbered packages authorized in many classification descriptions. These are found on Pages 560 through 713, near the back of the current issue of the NMFC—STB NMF 100-AA.

Once you become familiar with these, you should be in a position to advise the person in your company who is responsible for packaging (or your company's packaging suppliers) as to what is needed to assure compliance, thereby avoiding the possibility that any future damage claims will be denied because of non-compliance.

Ray Bohman is a well-known consultant and author. Mr. Bohman is editor of several highly successful newsletters on transportation and is a consultant to a number of national trade associations. He is president of The Bohman Group, consultants and publishers in the freight-transportation field. His offices are located at 27 Bay Lane, Chatham, MA 02633. Phone: (508) 945-2272.