Limited Quantity shipping for online stores: a practical US guide

If you sell beauty products, home goods, or anything that sprays, you’re probably shipping hazardous materials every day. Body spray is a flammable aerosol. Perfume is often a flammable liquid. So are many nail polishes and cleaners.

Most of it never needs shipping papers or hazard labels, because it ships as Limited Quantity. That’s the US rule that lets small containers of hazmat move by ground with far less paperwork. But “less paperwork” isn’t “no rules,” and the carriers stack their own limits on top. This guide covers what qualifies, what you still owe, what replaced ORM-D, and how USPS, UPS, and FedEx handle it.

What Limited Quantity is (and isn’t)

A limited quantity is the most of a hazardous material you can pack in one container and still use a specific exception from the full rules (49 CFR 171.8). Two things follow from that:

It’s per material. The exception only exists when the Hazardous Materials Table points to it for that material. You can’t claim it for something the table doesn’t allow.
It’s an exception, not an exemption. You still have to classify the material, pack it properly, mark the box, and train the people doing it.

To know whether a product qualifies, you need its hazard class and packing group. Your supplier’s safety data sheet (the transport section) is the usual place to start. We won’t guess at classifications for specific products here: two body sprays can land differently.

Does your product qualify? Inner container limits

For ground, the limits are per inner container (the bottle, can, or jar), packed in a strong outer box:

Material	Limit per inner container (ground)
Flammable liquids (Class 3), packing group I	0.5 L
Flammable liquids (Class 3), packing group II	1.0 L
Flammable liquids (Class 3), packing group III	5.0 L
Corrosives (Class 8), packing group II	1.0 L liquid or 1.0 kg solid
Corrosives (Class 8), packing group III	5.0 L liquid or 5.0 kg solid
Oxidizers (Division 5.1), packing group II	1.0 L liquid or 1.0 kg solid
Oxidizers (Division 5.1), packing group III	5.0 L liquid or 5.0 kg solid

Aerosols follow 49 CFR 173.306: a metal aerosol can’t exceed 1 L capacity, the pressure at 130°F (54.4°C) can’t exceed 180 psig for flammable aerosols (non-flammable ones can go to 210 psig in a DOT 2Q1 can, and the allowed can type depends on the pressure), the can can’t be completely full at 130°F, and each filled can must pass a hot-water-bath test unless one of the alternative test methods in 173.306(a)(3)(v) is used.

These are the ground numbers. Air limits are much smaller, as we’ll get to.

The box: strong packaging and 30 kg

Every Limited Quantity parcel you ship to a customer must meet the general packaging rules (secure closures, nothing leaking, contents that won’t react) in a strong outer packaging, and may not exceed 30 kg (66 pounds) gross weight. That’s the whole box, including everything else in the order.

That 30 kg line is the subject of our cautionary tale about 24 cans of body spray and a flat iron. The short version: weigh the finished box, not just the hazmat.

Carriers ask for more than “strong.” UPS wants a box rated at least 200 lb burst strength or 32 ECT (or one certified to ISTA Procedure 3A that displays the ISTA seal). USPS asks for the same 200 lb burst or 32 ECT for packages up to 20 lb, and 275 lb burst or 44 ECT above that, and doesn’t allow its own Priority Mail boxes for hazmat.

The mark

A Limited Quantity package shipped by ground must show the Limited Quantity mark (there’s a narrow exception for some private-carrier highway shipments): a square set on its point, black top and bottom with a white center. It goes on at least one side or end of the box. It’s 100 mm on each side, or as small as 50 mm if the box is too small.

New in 2026: a rule effective September 3, 2026 allows a 25 mm mark inside the shipping label, for any package size, for ground (not air or international vessel), as long as the label can tell the carrier electronically that the package is a Limited Quantity shipment and which transport modes are authorized. It isn’t allowed for radioactive material or on an overpack. The carriers haven’t caught up evenly: USPS Publication 52 (August 2026 edition) still requires its prior written approval for a reduced-size mark in the label, and UPS says the reduced mark is for domestic ground in the 48 contiguous states only. Ask your carrier before you switch.

For air, the mark gets a black “Y” in the center. A ground package may also carry the “Y” mark if it meets the air quantity limits.

With the Limited Quantity mark on the box, you don’t need to mark the proper shipping name or UN number, unless the material is also a hazardous substance or hazardous waste.

ORM-D is gone

If your boxes or old training materials say “ORM-D” or “Consumer Commodity ORM-D,” that system ended. The regulations allowed ORM-D only until December 31, 2020, and the section that defined the ORM-D marking (49 CFR 172.316) is now reserved, meaning empty. Use the Limited Quantity mark instead.

What Limited Quantity gets you, and what it doesn’t

Excepted by ground	Still required
Shipping papers (unless the material is a hazardous substance, hazardous waste, or marine pollutant)	Correct classification
Hazard labels	General packaging rules and the 30 kg limit
Placards	The Limited Quantity mark
UN specification packaging	Training for whoever prepares the shipment
Emergency response information (it follows the shipping paper)	Carrier rules and agreements

About training: anyone who prepares hazardous materials for shipment counts as a hazmat employee, and their employer must train them (49 CFR 172.702): within 90 days of starting, and until then they may do hazmat work only under direct supervision of a trained employee (172.704), then at least every three years. None of the Limited Quantity exceptions lists training among the things it removes. FedEx’s Ground hazmat guide says it outright: training is mandatory for Limited Quantity shippers too.

Carrier by carrier

USPS

USPS is the strictest of the three for most consumer hazmat (Publication 52):

Ground only, domestic only. Limited Quantity surface materials are “prohibited in Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail,” and prohibited in international mail. They generally must also qualify as a consumer commodity for USPS to accept them. Confirm with USPS which service to use.
Flammable liquids: anything with a flashpoint at or below 20°F (-7°C) can’t be mailed at all. Between 20°F and 73°F, the flammable liquid in one mailpiece is capped at 1 quart in metal containers or 1 pint in non-metal ones (Packaging Instruction 3A). That’s stricter than the federal 1 L per container for packing group II.
Flammable aerosols: surface only, with no more than 1 liter (33.8 fluid ounces) of flammable gas per mailpiece, and nothing over 180 psig at 130°F (Packaging Instruction 2A).
Corrosives: liquid mixtures must be 1 pint or less with no more than 15 percent corrosive material, and a mailpiece can’t exceed 25 pounds.
On the label: you must identify the shipment as hazmat when you generate the label, and use the hazmat service codes (Extra Service Code 857).
On the box: the Limited Quantity surface mark on the address side. No proper shipping name, UN number, or shipping paper is needed for surface shipments.

UPS

UPS requires a hazmat contract for fully regulated hazardous materials, but says lightly regulated goods don’t need one, and those include “Ground service level packages of materials prepared under ‘Limited Quantity’ (LTD QTY) provisions.” UPS doesn’t accept hazmat at The UPS Store or its Customer Centers, though ground Limited Quantity shipments in the 48 contiguous states “may be accepted at some locations.”

Most ground Limited Quantity shipments in the 48 contiguous states need no shipping papers.
Ground hazmat, including Limited Quantity, isn’t available to or from Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and several islands UPS lists.
Hazmat can’t go in UPS-provided packaging and must be shipped through a UPS-compliant shipping system.

FedEx

FedEx Ground requires an approval process before you ship hazmat. It ships Limited Quantity within the contiguous US and to Canada, but not to, from, or within Alaska or Hawaii. Limited Quantity must go out on a scheduled pickup, not through FedEx Office or a drop box, and hazmat packages can’t exceed 70 lb or 8 gallons.
FedEx Express applies the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations to dangerous goods regardless of routing, with a few listed 49 CFR exceptions, and Limited Quantity shipments must be picked up by a FedEx driver, not dropped off.

Air is a different game

Limited Quantity by air is its own set of rules (49 CFR 173.27(f) in the US, the IATA regulations for most carriers):

Packing group I materials can’t go as Limited Quantity by air, and neither can flammable gases, except aerosols (UN1950) and small gas receptacles (UN2037).
Limits drop sharply. A packing group II flammable liquid is 0.5 L per inner container and 1 L per package by air, against 1.0 L per container by ground.
The package needs the “Y” mark, a secondary closure on liquids, and must pass a 1.2 m drop test and a 24-hour 3 m stack test, and liquid inner packagings generally need a pressure-differential test.
The ground exceptions for labels and shipping papers don’t apply by air.

For an online store, the practical answer is to keep Limited Quantity shipments on ground services.

What getting it wrong costs

Under 49 CFR 107.329, the maximum civil penalty for knowingly violating the hazmat rules is $102,348 per violation, rising to $238,809 if the violation causes death, serious illness, or severe injury. There’s a minimum of $617 for violations involving training.

Where Vectis and StoaPack fit

Vectis stores the UN number and hazard class on each product and gives each dangerous-goods item its own package. Normally StoaPack does the packing and runs its hazmat checks. When StoaPack isn’t used (it’s unavailable, returns an error, or you pick the warehouse yourself), Vectis’s own packing rules still separate dangerous goods, without StoaPack’s checks. When you rate-shop and buy a label from the package screen, Vectis sends EasyPost a hazmat type based on the product’s hazard class; labels Vectis creates automatically when a package is marked packed, or through Ask Vectis, don’t carry hazmat information yet. It doesn’t flag a shipment as Limited Quantity, so check that your carrier sees your Limited Quantity packages as Limited Quantity.

StoaPack checks supported package quantity limits when you send the UN number and the net quantity per unit. It splits eligible units across packages and reports a sealed unit that’s over the limit instead of packing it. Vectis doesn’t send StoaPack the per-unit quantity yet, so these limit checks don’t run on orders Vectis packs. Coverage is in the StoaPack API guide.

Both are decision support. Neither certifies a shipment, and neither replaces your own review of the rules and your carrier agreements.

Shipping batteries too? See our guide to shipping lithium batteries from your online store.

The practical checklist

Find your hazmat SKUs. Aerosols, fragrances, nail products, cleaners, and anything with a flammable, corrosive, or oxidizer warning.
Get the transport classification (class, packing group, UN number) for each from the safety data sheet or supplier, and check the Hazardous Materials Table allows Limited Quantity for it.
Check each container against the inner limits, and each finished box against 30 kg.
Retire anything that says ORM-D. Stock the Limited Quantity mark, and ask your carrier before using the new 25 mm label mark.
Train whoever packs and ships hazmat, and keep the records.
Line up your carriers: FedEx Ground approval, UPS’s rules for ground Limited Quantity, and for USPS no Priority Mail, the per-mailpiece limits, and hazmat label codes.
Keep it on the ground. Air Limited Quantity is a different, stricter set of rules.

And weigh the box. Body spray is heavier than it looks once you add the flat iron.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026. eCFR text as of October 28, 2026.

49 CFR 171.8, definitions (limited quantity, strong outer packaging, hazmat employee): eCFR
49 CFR 172.315, Limited Quantity marking: eCFR
49 CFR 172.702 and 172.704, training: eCFR 172.702, eCFR 172.704
49 CFR 173.150 (Class 3), 173.152 (Division 5.1), 173.154 (Class 8): eCFR
49 CFR 173.306, aerosols: eCFR
49 CFR 173.27(f), Limited Quantity by aircraft: eCFR
49 CFR 172.316 as of June 2020 (ORM-D until December 31, 2020): eCFR
49 CFR 107.329, maximum penalties: eCFR
Federal Register, 91 FR 49332 (August 4, 2026), reduced-size Limited Quantity mark: federalregister.gov
USPS Publication 52 (August 2026), 336 Limited Quantity surface materials: pe.usps.com; 343 flammable liquids: pe.usps.com; Packaging Instruction 3A: pe.usps.com; Packaging Instruction 2A: pe.usps.com
UPS, Contract shipping (ground Limited Quantity needs no contract): ups.com
UPS Hazardous Materials Service Definition: ups.com
FedEx Ground, how to ship hazardous materials: fedex.com; FedEx Ground hazmat shipping guide (2021): fedex.com
FedEx Express, how to ship dangerous goods: fedex.com