Dangerous Goods Thailand airfreight
 

Hi there,

I am currently in Bangkok and want to airfreight my bike to Kathmandu soon. I went to a shipping company which quoted me much lower prices than the previous used ones on the hubb.
However they told me I have to drain all liquids including the oil.
And they said if I do this it is not considered as dangerous goods.

I have read somewhere on the hubb that it takes up to 2 weeks to get the "dangerous goods certificate".

While I´m NOT 100% certain of this, and things could have changed, I must say it does sound a bit suspicious to me. I doubt you´ll be able to drain ALL gasoline, for example, without dismantling the whole fuel system. And it´ll usually be the airline´s representative, who´ll need to approve the shipment, not the cargo company.

They might tempt you with a lower price, and then later on (when you´ve already committed to send with them) tell you: oops sorry but you´re gonna need a DG-certificate at extra price.

Google IATA DGR UN3166, and you should find more about the requirements for such shipments. The freight companies should also have the very thick IATA DG-manual, where those same things are in print.

oh and 2 weeks for a DG-certificate sounds like complete BS..

That was exactly what I thought. I told them when I shipped before I was charged more than the quote, but he assured me that this is the charge...

His Thai Air transport fees are lower than with the other shipping companies.
(65 Baht / other company: 83 Baht) ((This should be identical with all forwarding agents???...))

How comes they all have different transport charges?

Why do all shipping companies quote different prices for the airline transport charge?

Is this common?

Are they rounding up for their own profit or do they get charged differently by the airline???

It's common, and no different than most businesses with complex supply chains.
Base aircargo transport charges depend on the financials/ costs of each airline in each "market"--between any two airports--total cargo capacity vs cargo demand vs competition on that route, etc.
Airlines then often charge different "shipping companies"/ airfreight agents different rates depending in part on total business that agent books with that cargo carrier.
Airfreight agents then round up for their own "added value"/ profit, and to reflect what different airlines may charge them originally.
Plus all the usual intangibles/ interpersonal relations/ history, jadda jadda

According to the dangerous good regulations, anything with a petrol engione which has been used, classifies as a dangerous good.
When I shipped my scooter from Kazakhstan to Thailand I was told to remove the engine (which I told them I did but I didnt) and when everything was nicely packed, they said the petrol tank smelled of gasoline (despite it was dry). So I had to remove it and...take it as a ceck in luggage :)