ADR (dangerous goods)

ADR stands for the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, concluded under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva in 1957 and revised every two years. It is transposed into national law across the European contracting parties, so it governs domestic movements too.

For a broker, ADR changes three things at once: which carriers can accept the freight, what documentation must exist before the vehicle moves, and how the shipment is priced. Carriers either refuse ADR outright, accept it under limited-quantity rules, or accept it fully with a surcharge.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers, and it treats ADR as a priced option on the quote — asked for on the form, priced from your grid, and recorded on the shipment. It does not classify goods, generate dangerous-goods declarations or check regulatory compliance; that responsibility stays with the shipper and the carrier.

Several classes carry sub-divisions that change the handling rules substantially — class 4 splits into flammable solids, spontaneously combustible and water-reactive substances; class 5 splits into oxidisers and organic peroxides; class 6 splits into toxic and infectious.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers: it records that a shipment is ADR and prices the option, but the UN number, proper shipping name and packing group come from the shipper's declaration.

The 1.1.3.6 calculation assigns each substance a multiplier by transport category and totals the points for the vehicle. Below the threshold, the load travels without orange plates and without an ADR-certified driver, though packaging, marking and the transport document still apply.

Limited quantities (ADR chapter 3.4) and excepted quantities (chapter 3.5) work differently: they exempt goods packed in small inner receptacles, which is how retail paint and aerosols move through ordinary groupage networks.

The practical consequence for a broker is that "is it ADR?" is not a yes-or-no question at booking. It depends on quantity, packing and what else is on the vehicle — which is why the declaration must come from the shipper in writing, before a carrier is committed.

The cost drivers are real and explain the spread. An ADR movement requires a driver holding a valid ADR training certificate, vehicle equipment and placarding, segregation rules that reduce how much other freight can share the vehicle, and a dangerous goods safety adviser in the operator's organisation.

Class 1 and class 7 are commonly refused by general groupage networks altogether, and are handled by specialists at specialist prices.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers: ADR is configured as a priced option per grid — a fixed amount or a percentage, exactly as your carrier wrote it — so the surcharge appears on the quote instead of arriving on the invoice. Cargavo does not publish ADR rates of its own.

The dangerous-goods particulars appear in a prescribed sequence, and the sequence itself is part of the requirement — an inspector reading a transport document expects UN number first.

Alongside the transport document, the driver carries the instructions in writing (the four-page safety instructions prescribed by ADR), an ADR training certificate, and photo identification. Vehicle equipment, extinguishers and placards are checked at the same time.

Cargavo, a TMS for freight brokers, stores shipment documents as attachments against the S-YYYY-NNNN record and lets the broker and the customer exchange them through the portal messaging. It does not generate dangerous-goods declarations, and it does not validate classifications — that remains the shipper's legal responsibility.