June 15, 2018
Unit load devices (ULDs) are frequently used to ship large quantities of non-regulated goods, but they can also be used to ship Dry Ice, as long as the requirements of the International Air Transport Association’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (IATA DGR) Section 5.9, Packing Instruction 954 are met.
Appendix A of the IATA DGR defines a ULD as any type of freight container, aircraft container, aircraft pallet with a net, or aircraft pallet with a net over an igloo. Overpacks and Class 7 radioactive material freight containers are not ULDs.
With few exceptions, a ULD containing dry ice may not contain other dangerous goods. The exceptions to this rule are UN 3373, Biological substance, Category B; and ID 8000, Consumer commodity. To ship these dangerous goods in a ULD, you must meet the IATA DGR provisions specific to the Biological Substances or Consumer commodities, in addition to meeting the dry ice requirements for ULDs.
When dry ice is shipped in a ULD:
- The ULD must be prepared by a single shipper who has arranged the shipment with the airline operator
- The ULD must allow carbon dioxide gas to vent, in order to prevent a dangerous build-up of pressure inside
- The marking and labeling requirements of IATA DGR Section 7 do not apply to the ULD
- Although a Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods is not required, the shipper must provide the following information in the ‘Nature and Quantity of Goods’ box on the air waybill, when used, or in the appropriate location on an alternate transport document, in this order:
- UN 1845
- Dry Ice or Carbon dioxide, solid
- The number of packages and net weight of dry ice in each package if the ULD includes packages that contain dry ice, or the identification number of the ULD and the net quantity of dry ice in each ULD if the dry ice is placed in the dry ice bunker of the ULD or loose in the ULD