How to ship a drum

Start with the safety data sheet

Before a drum is quoted we need the safety data sheet for what is in it. It tells us whether the contents are classified as dangerous goods, and if so which class, packing group and UN number apply.

A great many perfectly ordinary products are classified: paints, solvents, adhesives, cleaning chemicals, some cosmetics and anything flammable or corrosive. Being classified does not usually stop a shipment — it changes how it is packed, labelled, documented and stowed, and it changes the price. What causes real trouble is finding out late.

How drums are priced and stowed

A standard 205-litre steel drum is roughly 0.6m across and 0.9m tall, so four fit on a standard pallet and a 20ft container takes around eighty palletised. Drums are dense, so they are usually charged on weight rather than volume.

Non-hazardous drums can share a groupage container. Classified goods often cannot, depending on class and the other cargo already booked, which is why a dangerous-goods drum is frequently quoted as a full container even when the volume alone would not justify one.

Preparing drums for shipment

Drums fail in transit in two ways: they leak, or they fall over and then leak.

• Use UN-approved drums where the contents are classified, with the certification marking intact and legible.
• Do not fill to the brim. Liquids expand, and a drum crossing temperature zones needs the ullage space left for it.
• Bung side up, closures torqued to the manufacturer's figure, and never re-use a drum for something different from what it last held.
• Palletise and band. A loose drum in a container will roll, and a rolling drum damages everything it reaches as well as itself.