The Postal Service is reminding facilities that it is eliminating ORM-D, a classification marking specifically used for hazardous materials carried by ground transportation.
ORM-D, which means “other regulated material,” refers to a limited quantity of a hazardous material that meet certain USPS requirements and present a limited hazard during transportation due to its form, quantity and packaging.
Starting Jan. 1, the DOT Limited Quantity mark — a square-on-point with a blank center — will replace the obsolete ORM-D marking, which will be prohibited in Postal Service networks.
The DOT Limited Quantity symbol will be the only acceptable marking for packages restricted to ground transport that contain eligible limited-quantity consumer commodity materials.
Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail will also be revised in the next online update to remove verbiage related to ORM-D.
Mailers currently using the ORM-D category must reevaluate their materials to determine if they can be shipped as limited quantities.
Employees who have questions should email them to productclassification@usps.gov.
