Drones — every flight case is a battery shipment
Europe builds and flies drones every day — and every day lithium batteries travel to test fields, service centres and customers. Those are class 9 dangerous goods with their own rules for packing, marking and papers. We make the flow ADR-compliant without slowing it down.
A spare battery in a backpack and the same battery in a courier parcel live under different rules — the borders are set at classification.
This is what you already ship
Typical dangerous goods of the industry — with the real Table A entries. Tap any card to open the full UN page in our reference.
Class 9UN 3481, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or LITHIUM ION BATTERIES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT
Batteries installed in the drone or packed with it
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3480, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
Spare lithium-ion packs shipped separately
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3171, BATTERY POWERED VEHICLE or BATTERY POWERED EQUIPMENT
Larger UAV platforms as battery-powered vehicles
Class 9UN 3090, LITHIUM METAL BATTERIES
Lithium-metal cells of controllers and beacons
LQ 0
Class 2UN 1950, AEROSOLS, flammable
Aerosols of field service — cleaners, conformal coatings
LQ 1 L / 120 ml
Three ways your goods can travel
The same product can go as limited quantities, under the 1.1.3.6 partial exemption or in full ADR — the classification and the packaging decide.
Limited quantities (LQ)
Small inner packagings within the column 7a limit, up to 30 kg gross — the goods travel with the LQ diamond, free of most other ADR provisions (Chapter 3.4).
Partial exemption (1.1.3.6)
Below the transport category threshold per transport unit — no orange plates, no written instructions, no ADR driver certificate (the list in 1.1.3.6.2).
Full ADR
Above the thresholds the goods travel under the full set of rules — transport document, plates and labels, equipment, trained crew and every participant duty.
The same battery pack travels three ways — installed in the drone it may go under lightened conditions, a spare in the service van may fit under 1.1.3.6, and a pallet of packs to a customer is full ADR.
Who answers for what
ADR splits the duties among the participants of the carriage. These are the roles your company typically holds — with the exact ADR paragraphs.
Consignor
Hands over only consignments that conform to ADR — classified, authorized, in approved packagings, with the transport documents furnished to the carrier.
Packer
Follows the packing and mixed-packing conditions and, when preparing packages for carriage, the marking and labelling requirements.
Loader
Checks packagings for damage before handing over, observes the mixed-loading prohibitions and the separation from foodstuffs.
Unloader
Compares the transport document with what actually arrived before unloading.
For each of these roles the company needs an appointed safety adviser (1.8.3.1) — ours works on subscription.
About the DGSAWhat a mistake costs
A battery shipped to a demo without the mark — the sums below are what national law charges for it.
Sanctions are national — checks are European
Every ADR country sets its own fines for dangerous goods violations. Roadside checks follow one European standard — Directive (EU) 2022/1999 with a common list of infringements by risk category. Open your country to see the authorities and the exact amounts.
Find your countryAnd beyond the fines
- A vehicle stopped at a roadside check — with your customer waiting for the delivery
- An incident with an untrained crew — and an insurer reading the file closely
- Violations on record — and inspections coming back more often
What the law expects from you
ADR duties come first — and your industry carries its own EU rules on top.
Under ADR
- Classify every product before it is handed over for carriage
- Train everyone who touches dangerous goods (Chapter 1.3)
- Appoint a safety adviser — carriers, consignors, loaders, packers alike
- Mark, document and equip every consignment correctly
EU rules of the industry
Batteries — Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
The life cycle of every pack you build in — marking, due diligence, collection. Transport tests and carriage stay with the UN rules and ADR.
U-space and EASA drone rules
Flying is regulated by aviation law — but the ground leg of every battery, spare and aerosol is road carriage under ADR.
The industry in numbers
89
lithium battery incidents on board aircraft recorded by the FAA in 2024 — +16% in a year. The ground leg of the same batteries is ADR.
Source · IATA / FAAIs this about you?
If even one line matches your operation — it is worth a conversation.
- Test flights mean batteries driven to the field every week
- Spare packs ship to customers by courier
- Damaged batteries from crashes wait in the workshop
- Nobody has counted the watt-hours of what travels daily
- You are preparing for defence-related consignments
Our solutions
New industry, old rules — lithium logistics set up once and scaled with your fleet.
Cargo instruction with the transport document entry
Classification, the carriage regime and the ready transport document entry — for a specific cargo.
from €50 / document
A consultant on subscription
A certified safety adviser, the appointment notice and the platform — from €50 a month plus €10 per consignment.
ADRplus One
Train the team
Chapter 1.3 courses online, in your languages — at your own pace, with certificates.
Course is being updated
ADR compliance audit
A remote compliance audit with a report — where you stand and what to fix first.
€290
Questions from the industry
Have a different question?
Contact the consultantBatteries are installed in the drone — is that still dangerous goods?
Yes — UN 3481 covers exactly that case. Installation changes the entry and the conditions, not the status. Small packs may travel under lightened conditions, and the borders are set by watt-hours at classification.
What about batteries damaged in a crash?
Damaged and defective batteries travel under special conditions with their own packagings — the exact regime is decided at classification, before the pack leaves the workshop. Bringing one back from the field «as is» in a backpack is the classic violation.
We also work with defence customers — can you support that?
Carriage of defence-related consignments is supported on request and handled confidentially — write to the consultant directly.
What does the setup cost for a drone company?
The cargo instruction with the transport document entry for your packs and flows from €50 per document, the subscription with a certified safety adviser and the platform from €50 a month plus €10 per consignment — and your crews learn the rules in the academy in their own languages.
Tell us how your goods move
Within one working day you get a clear answer — what applies to you, what does not, and what it costs to be in order.