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Services and Restrictions

General Requirements

  • All hazardous materials shipments must be properly packaged and prepared under Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR). We do not accept hazardous materials prepared under International Air Transport Association or International Civil Aviation Organization (IATA or ICAO) regulations.
  • If you're submitting packages under a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) special permit, you must provide a copy of the special permit paperwork to the FedEx Ground facility accepting your shipment.
  • You must be prepared to provide a copy of the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for your materials upon our request.


Service Restrictions 

  • Before you can begin shipping hazardous materials via FedEx Ground, you first must be approved (see How to Qualify). Contact your FedEx account executive or call FedEx Customer Service at 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 (say "hazardous materials") for more information.
  • We ship hazardous materials, including ORM-D, via FedEx Ground® service within the contiguous U.S. Hazardous materials, including ORM-D materials, cannot be shipped to Alaska or Hawaii. Consumer-commodity ORM-Ds can be shipped to Canada. You cannot, however, ship ammunition, cartridge small arms and cartridge power devices to Canada.
  • FedEx Ground® Call Tag service is not available for hazardous materials shipments.
  • Our money-back guarantee may not apply to shipments that are not properly prepared in accordance with DOT regulations and FedEx Ground requirements.
  • Hazardous materials, including ORM-Ds, are not accepted at FedEx Office Print & Ship CentersSM, FedEx World Service Center® locations, FedEx OfficeSM Ship Centers, FedEx Authorized ShipCenter® locations, FedEx Express® Drop Boxes or unstaffed FedEx locations.
  • Packages containing hazardous materials cannot exceed 70 lbs. The maximum volume is 8 gallons.


 Hazardous Materials, ORM-D and Dry Ice

Service is available from U.S. origins only (all states except Alaska and Hawaii).

Commodity Destination 
Contiguous U.S. Alaska and Hawaii Canada
Hazardous Materials Yes No No
ORM-D Yes No Yes*
Dry Ice Yes No Yes**

*Call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 and say "hazardous materials" to confirm availability in advance.
**You can ship dry ice to Canada if your shipment meets the following three conditions:
  1. The dry ice is used as a refrigerant in a small container with a capacity of 450 liters or less.
  2. You indicate "Dry ice as refrigerant" on the documentation accompanying the container.
  3. The container is designed and constructed to permit the release of carbon dioxide, to prevent a build-up of pressure that could rupture the container.


Materials Restrictions 

We do not accept for delivery:

  • Any material that is a reportable quantity (RQ) of a hazardous substance
  • Hazardous waste
  • Material marked as an “inhalation hazard”
  • Fireworks
  • Any packages labeled as a “biohazard,” such as blood, urine, fluids and other noninfectious diagnostic specimens

Refer to column 9 of the FedEx Ground Hazardous Materials Table in our Hazardous Materials Shipping Guide for additional restrictions and requirements.

Hazardous Materials Security 

Due to a change in the federal regulations governing hazardous materials (HM-232), shippers and carriers are required to develop and implement a security plan addressing risks related to the transportation of hazardous materials. We have such a plan in place and are in full compliance with this regulation, along with the security-training requirements specified in 49 CFR 172.704.

Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this information, we cannot make a copy of our security plan available.