Doing It All: Our Mission to Serve Clients With Extreme Care for HAZMAT Shipments

Safe, professional, and reliable, shipment of goods via air, sea, or ground is always important – and Prime Logistics has the experience to make that happen for its valued customers. But some cargo, classified by U.S. authorities as “hazardous goods” (HAZMAT) or alternatively, internationally, as “dangerous goods,” requires extreme care and top-of-class expertise at every step of the packaging and shipping process.

Fortunately, Prime Logistics can handle packing and shipping services for multiple types of cargo. When we’re asked to assist a client with a HAZMAT shipment, we work to ensure the safety and protection of our employees, transportation companies, the general public, and the communities we serve.

Complying with Diverse Regulations
Heavily regulated by U.S. and international government agencies as well as industry organizations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global, and domestic HAZMAT shipments have the potential of a higher-than-normal risk to the public and the environment. As a result, strict rules, regulations and legal requirements for these types of goods are imposed by regulators and can vary from country to country.

Fortunately, Prime Logistics knows the ins and outs of these requirements with “boots on the ground” all around the globe – employees who know local requirements, as well as which airlines or ocean cargo operators will carry specific types of HAZMAT cargo, such as perfume, flammable fuels, or even aircraft engines that by their nature contain oils and other components deemed as dangerous goods (DGs). It’s definitely not a cookie-cutter process.

Expertise on the shipping side, whether it’s domestic or international in nature, is critical. For example, HAZMAT goods can include everything from corrosive goods to explosives, gases, flammable and combustible liquids and solids, oxidizer and organic peroxide, poison, explosives radioactive items, and corrosive goods.

Training, Training, and More Training
“Safely and efficiently transporting HAZMAT boils down to specialized training on an annual basis, emphasizes Edgar Campana, general manager, Prime Logistics. “Training, training and more training – Nothing is more critical.”

In fact, Prime Logistics’ multifaceted training program covers all the basic aspects of all services provided to customers. That includes annual HAZMAT training, during which employees learn how to identify and safely package HAZMAT materials for shipment, critical to the company’s full-service mission of moving all types of cargo for clients.

Why proper packaging is s important
Even the most responsible customers who know the complex rules and regulations for HAZMAT may simply never get close enough to their own products on the shipping side to assure that those goods are packaged properly. In turn, Prime Logistics’ priority is to ensure any dangerous goods presented for shipping by customers are packaged correctly with the correct items.

“That way our employees can advise the transportation company if the package or cargo received is ‘good to fly’ or, alternatively, has issues,” says Campana. If there are problems, Prime Logistics can take the appropriate action to rectify those. It also takes great care to assure its own employees should not be put at risk.

Campana stresses that “we as a company have to know how to properly identify such cargo, learn what we need to clean, contain the material right away, and eliminate risk for employees and the environment.” Among the many steps along the shipping journey, employees must follow varied domestic and international rules and regulations for classifying, identifying, packaging, marking, labeling, documenting, placarding and separating HAZMAT cargo.

Striving for Safe, On-Time Deliveries
It’s a reality that some forwarders that specialize in transportation of cargo simply don’t feel comfortable in dealing with HAZMAT shipments. While handling those certainly isn’t Prime Logistics’ prime business goal, they fall within our full-service approach to serving customers.

HAZMAT is just another element in the shipping process, another way to assist clients. Then, “at the end of the day, it falls on us to help make sure the customer’s shipment makes it to the final destination safely, intact and without a delay at Customs that could be caused by improper packaging or other HAZMAT issues,” he emphasizes.

Keeping People Safe
One facet of Prime Logistics’ HAZMAT service for its shipping clients is unwavering – the safety and protection of employees, customers and the public. It’s also a team approach inside the company. Even Campana has taken the annual HAZMAT training “because the best way to know what people are doing is to know what they are doing day to day, and if they need help, I am ready.”

Beyond HAZMAT certification, Prime Logistics’ employees also offer diverse skill sets and other important certifications. Employees are trained to safely operate forklifts, manage perishables, understand good distribution practices and safely handle specialized products such as vaccines that require lower temperatures. Some also take TSA training to assure they understand Customs requirements.

“As a result, our employees have all the tools they need to safely do their jobs and protect customer shipments,” Campana stresses. For example, if cargo comes to Prime Logistics packed in dry ice, the employee knows how to safely work with it and avoid injury, as dry ice is dangerous to touch and can burn eyes.

“It’s all about having all the expertise needed to assist our clients and handle the shipment with the utmost care,” he points out. “From client to client, cargo always comes in differently and goes out differently, whether it’s fluids, a product that needs to be below zero, dry cargo, or perishables.”

The Right Stuff
Making Another point Campana makes? The supplier may believe “all is okay,” but “if the packaging is not up to our specifications for the transfer to airlines, this is where our expertise comes in – to ensure smooth packing and transport so the customer delivery is not delayed.”

In some cases, Prime Logistics may have to open a crate and repack it to meet HAZMAT regulations or other specifications. Since Prime Logistics is certificated in the U.S., it obviously follows U.S. regulations, but Campana say the company’s employees across the globe understand the requirements and nuances of government rules outside the U.S.

Knowing those local regulations – whether in Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam, Singapore, or elsewhere – is a plus for customers. “Otherwise, the shipment will get stuck at Customs if we aren’t on top of what’s regulated – and know the right way to move the cargo through,” he adds. That could mean a loss of time for the customer, as well as a loss of money due to fines or extra taxes.

So, while often a customer’s prime concern is that Prime Logistics succeeds in getting their product from Point A to Point B on time and in good shape, Campana emphasizes that “we must handle everything in between, whether a normal shipment or HAZMAT goods.” Fortunately, Prime Logistics has both the experience and expertise to accomplish that in a safe, timely and efficient manner” whatever is being shipped.

Nurturing Community Spirit is a Prime Quality

Having a heart – by “giving back” to the local community, diving into volunteerism, or working directly with charitable organizations – is a positive way to show employees and customers that what’s important in business is more than just dollars and cents.

As Helen Keller said, “Alone, we can do so little, together, we can do so much.”

At Prime Group, we strongly believe that any company – big or small – with a sense of social responsibility and a volunteerism-friendly culture for their employees can truly make a difference. That’s why we strongly encourage all businesses to improve the quality of life in their communities through local projects and volunteerism.

It Takes a Planet

“Over the holidays, most of us had the blessings of food on the table and a home from which our families celebrated,” Marie Gonzalez, manager of Prime Planet Business Development. “But at the same time, so many others were not so fortunate.”

To help, Prime Group provided a Prime Planet Donation for the Miami Global Colombian Lions Club project to feed homeless residents.

“Our employees took to the streets of Miami and provided goodie bags with a sandwich, beverage, and snacks that homeless residents could later enjoy,” Gonzalez notes. “It was a small, but meaningful food donation. Not only was it the right thing to do, but it helped these less fortunate people know that we care.”

On the Frontline for Kids

Individual employees who pick a personal passion for their community service also can enrich their own personal lives, which often makes for a happier employee in general, as well. For example, in the past, Igor Vilas Boas, operations manager at Prime Logistics and his wife Diana have volunteered their time on weekends at His House Children’s Home of North Miami, a frontline provider of residential and foster-care services dedicated to restoring the lives of children.

In addition to helping the kids and teens, the couple soon discovered that volunteering was a great way to disconnect from work after a busy day and foster a good work-life balance. Studies show that the act of giving to others can help employees enhance both mental and physical health.

More Than Just Chipping In

For example, over the past several months, Prime Group’s global headquarters in Miami, served as the local arrival point for Girl Scout Cookies in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. More than 60,000 boxes of cookies were warehoused at Prime Group’s Doral warehouse facility, and our company partnered with the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida for the launch of the 2021 cookie season.

Over several weeks, employees worked side by side with the Girl Scouts to prepare for the launch of the cookie distribution phase of the program from the warehouse.

“It was so much more than just another successful logistics operation,” says Edgar Campana, general manager-Prime Logistics. “It was also our way of being a good corporate citizen and helping to foster the development of future female leaders.” He also points out that volunteering and working on community projects can benefit business too.

According to a recent global study on corporate social responsibility, 93 percent of consumers polled by Cone Communications said they’d have a more positive image of a company that’s socially responsible. Ninety percent of those surveyed also said they’d be more likely to trust that company, while 88 percent would be “more loyal” and continue using that firm’s products or services.

We’ve discovered that when we support our local communities, our business has higher local visibility, more robust networking opportunities, a team-focused sense of accomplishment among our employees, and an enhanced business reputation.

Prime Group encourages all companies to pick their passion – by finding projects that can make their community a better place to live and work. It can change lives.

So why not set up a volunteer action plan within your company? Encourage employees to pick a charity or community project and volunteer. As a business, look for corporate projects that improve the lives of local residents, and in some cases, even save lives.

As the 19th century playwright and theater director Henrik Ibsen said: “Community is like a ship. Everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”