Altor guide · 2026-09-29

Pre-tender dangerous goods review: check the paper before you tender

The driver is in the yard. The Shipper's Declaration is printed. Someone on the dock says the airline will catch anything that is off. That habit is how a pre-tender dangerous goods review gets skipped. Once the operator has the freight, the next read is an acceptance decision. IATA DGR 9.1.3 is that walk. 49 CFR 175.30 is the US air acceptance duty beside it. The freight moves, or it stays.

The pass that can still change a line sits earlier. The packages are on your floor. The signature block is blank. You still hold the paper. A carrier checklist after tender does not certify the shipment.

What the regulation actually requires

49 CFR 173.22 places classification, the shipping description, packaging, marks, and labels on the offeror. The duties attach when you offer the material. Tender is that offer. A discrepancy from the cargo terminal does not move classification onto the operator.

49 CFR 172.202 is the basic description: identification number, proper shipping name, class or division, packing group when one is assigned, then quantity and packaging type. For air, IATA DGR 8.1 is the Shipper's Declaration. IATA DGR 8.1.6.9 is the nature and quantity sequence on that form, including the packing instruction, the package count, and the net quantity.

49 CFR 172.204 is the shipper's certification. IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 is the matching block. For air, 49 CFR 172.204(c)(3) adds that the applicable air transport requirements have been met. The signature means those statements are true of this consignment. A signature on a line you still plan to change certifies the line as it stands.

49 CFR 173.27 sets the US aircraft packaging and quantity limits. The list keeps a passenger column and a cargo column. The booking chooses the column. The declaration follows the booking. A cargo maximum applies to a cargo aircraft. It does not stand in for the passenger figure.

The operator's duty begins at acceptance. 49 CFR 175.30 refuses the freight unless it is authorized, within the quantity limits, described and certified, and marked and labeled, including Cargo Aircraft Only when passenger carriage is not permitted. IATA DGR 9.1.3 walks the declaration against the current list, then against the package. A failed line ends the tender.

The mistake people make

They send the freight and call the refusal a review.

The line that fails is often a cargo quantity left on a passenger booking. From the current ICAO TI Table 3-1 extract, UN 1219 Isopropanol is Class 3, packing group II. The Isopropyl alcohol row carries the same figures. Passenger aircraft: packing instruction 353 at 5 L, and limited quantity packing instruction Y341 at 1 L. Cargo aircraft: packing instruction 364 at 60 L. A passenger declaration that still shows packing instruction 364 and 60 L is the cargo column. A 5 L package written to Y341 puts the passenger maximum on the limited quantity instruction. The 5 L belongs to packing instruction 353. Catch that before anyone signs.

The same extract lists special provision A180 on this row. Open the current provision and apply it to this consignment before you lock the line. The code is part of the offer.

They also grade the wrong page. A booking screen shows that a UN number was typed. Section 14 of a safety data sheet ages. The operator grades the Shipper's Declaration. An open aircraft cell, or an open quantity, handed to a forwarder does not move 49 CFR 172.204 off the offeror. The person who offers the material signs.

The same read after the carton reaches the cargo terminal is rejection recovery. The freight has already been offered. What to do after a bounce is at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.

How to run a pre-tender dangerous goods review

Use one order, on the completed declaration, while the freight is still on your floor.

Lock the aircraft from the booking first. Passenger and cargo aircraft, or cargo aircraft only. Then write the packing instruction. For UN 1219 packing group II, a passenger booking uses packing instruction 353 at 5 L, or Y341 at 1 L when the package is prepared as a limited quantity. A cargo booking uses packing instruction 364 at 60 L. Keep each figure with its own instruction.

Read the rest of the line against the current IATA DGR Section 4.2 list. The quantities above are from the ICAO TI Table 3-1 extract. Check the identification number, proper shipping name, class, packing group, packing instruction, and net quantity. One wrong cell takes the next cell with it.

Set the paper on the package. Marks and labels on the declaration have to match the package. Where the passenger column forbids the material, the Cargo Aircraft Only label is part of that match. UN 1219 packing group II is allowed on a passenger aircraft inside the passenger limit, so that label does not repair a 60 L passenger line. Change the column, the instruction, and the quantity together, then match the package to the corrected form.

Check the emergency telephone before the signature. 49 CFR 172.604 requires a numeric emergency response number on the shipping paper, monitored the whole time the material is in transportation, storage included. The person who answers knows the material, or reaches a person who does, at the time of the call. A number that requires a call back does not meet that section.

When the booking, the line, the package, and the telephone agree, sign under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12. Then tender. Where they disagree, correct the form and the package, then sign the corrected declaration. The signature stays with the shipper of record.

Altor pre-checks a completed Dangerous Goods Declaration before you tender it and returns a written report, with every finding cited, within one business day. You keep the pen. altor.consulting

Catch the rejection before the carrier does

Send your completed declaration before you tender it. A line by line advisory report comes back within 24 hours, every finding cited. $95 flat, one click, and you keep the pen.

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