The Drum Mark Says 1.4 and the Liquid Says 1.52
You are loading at a batch plant in Tampa for a run to Atlanta. The shipper offers two lots.
Lot A: 12 open-head steel drums, each filled with 200 kg net of a Class 8, PG II liquid with a specific gravity of 1.52. Each drum bears the certification mark "1A2/Y1.4/150/23/USA/M4321" and has a bung fitted with a new gasket.
Lot B: 8 fiberboard boxes, each holding four 5-liter metal cans of a Class 3, PG II solvent. The boxes are marked "4G/Y30/S/23/USA/M9087." The shipper states each box weighs 34 kg gross.
While walking the load you find one Lot A drum with a damp, corroded bung and a chipped chime, and one Lot B box whose bottom flaps have been torn and re-taped. The shipper says the drums are "all the same spec" and asks whether the load can roll as is.
1. Decode the drum certification mark and determine whether these drums may be used for this liquid.
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Reading the mark: 1A2 is an open-head steel drum; Y is the packing group rating, authorizing PG II and PG III; 1.4 is the maximum specific gravity the design was tested at; 150 is the hydrostatic test pressure in kPa; 23 is the year of manufacture; USA is the country of authorization; M4321 is the manufacturer's symbol.
The packing group is not the problem - Y covers PG II. The hydrostatic test pressure is not the problem either; PG II liquids require at least 100 kPa, and 150 kPa exceeds that.
The specific gravity is the problem. The liquid has a specific gravity of 1.52, meaning a 200 kg fill occupies less volume and exerts different stresses than the 1.4-specific-gravity liquid the design was tested with. The drum is authorized only up to 1.4, so it cannot be used for this material regardless of what the drum looks like or how new the gasket is. These drums need a design marked with a specific gravity of at least 1.52, and the material must also be checked for compatibility with the steel and the gasket - packing group and specific gravity alone do not establish that the lading will not attack the packaging.
2. Evaluate the Lot B boxes against their own certification mark.
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The mark reads: 4G fiberboard box; Y for packing groups II and III; 30 as the maximum gross mass in kilograms; S indicating the design was tested for solids or for inner packagings, which is correct for a box containing cans; 23 the year; USA; M9087 the manufacturer.
The packing group rating is fine - the solvent is PG II, which Y covers. The letter S is fine, because the contents are inner packagings rather than a single mass of solid.
The failure is the gross mass. The mark authorizes a maximum gross mass of 30 kg, and each box weighs 34 kg gross. A package may never exceed the gross mass shown in its certification mark, because the drop and stacking tests were performed at that mass. Two options exist: reduce the contents so the box comes in at 30 kg or less, or obtain boxes certified at a higher gross mass. Additionally, the re-taped bottom flaps on one box are a structural defect - the box is no longer the tested article, so that specific box should be rejected outright, not re-taped and shipped.
3. The damp bung drum and the re-taped box aside, what else must be true of the drums before they are loaded, and what do you tell the shipper?
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Beyond the certification rating, every package must be in good condition, free of leaks, with closures secured and the correct gaskets fitted, and it must not be filled so full that expansion at elevated temperature can force the closure or permanently deform the head. A liquid drum needs outage - headspace - so it is never filled to the brim. The 200 kg fill must be checked against the drum's capacity at specific gravity 1.52, not against the volume of a lighter liquid.
The corroded, damp bung is a rejection item. A weeping fitting or a compromised gasket means the package is already failing under normal conditions of transport, and corrosion at the bung suggests the lading has been attacking the fitting. The chipped chime weakens the rolling hoop that takes the load when drums are handled and stacked. Neither is cosmetic.
What you tell the shipper: the Lot A drums are the wrong design for this liquid at 1.52 specific gravity, so the entire lot goes back regardless of condition; the Lot B box weight exceeds its marked gross mass; and the damaged individual pieces are rejected even after the rating issues are resolved. The load does not roll until corrected packaging arrives.