The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday said it intends to fine three shippers, including Verizon, a combined total of nearly $430,000 for not following rules for shipping hazardous materials by air.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is potentially subject to a $70,500 civil penalty for allegedly tendering three shipments of lithium-ion batteries to FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) in May 2024 without the required classification, description, packaging, markings, and labels. The batteries also were not in the proper condition for transport and Verizon didn’t provide required emergency response information to the carrier, the FAA said in a news release.
Currently, there are few means to physically check for undeclared lithium batteries, posing one of the biggest threats to flight safety due to their fire risk.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was also the victim of a dangerous shipping situation. The FAA said it has proposed a $260,000 civil penalty against World Event Promotions of Coral Gables, Florida, for allegedly violating hazardous materials regulations. The agency said WEP offered three shipments of battery packs containing lithium-ion batteries to UPS for transport by air. In one instance, employees at the UPS sorting facility in Ontario, California, discovered the shipment was smoking, with a burn hole in the package.
The FAA alleges the materials were not accompanied by the required shipping paperwork and lacked the same information as the Verizon shipments. The agency also alleged that the state of charge of the lithium batteries exceeded 30% of their rated capacity.
The FAA has also notified Devinaire Industries, based in Hillsboro, Oregon, that it intends to fine the company $97,500 for non-compliant shipments on two flights in January 2025. Debonair accepted two shipments of radiopharmaceutical materials for transportation by air. Drugs that contain radioactive substances are classified as hazardous material.
The FAA alleges Devinaire failed to ensure its employees who accepted these shipments were trained in transporting hazmat and the shipping papers didn’t include a description of the physical and chemical form of the radioactive material. Regulators also claim the company didn’t keep the shipping papers and information provided to the pilots on file for the required amount of time.
The companies each have 30 days to respond to enforcement letters.
The FAA penalized three companies in September for violating hazmat shipping regulations with lithium batteries transported by FedEx and UPS.
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Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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