Just managed to land a job after a month on the dole 
,starts Monday,but went in today as “drivers mate” to learn the ropes and to see if I fancy it 
Part of my loads will be butane and propane canisters,usually less than 500kgs;question is…can I carry these ? cos I haven’t got an ADR ticket ? I asked the driver I was with,and he said I don’t need it for small quantities.Any advice welcome 
Baggie:
Just managed to land a job after a month on the dole
Part of my loads will be butane and propane canisters,usually less than 500kgs;question is…can I carry these ? cos I haven’t got an ADR ticket ? I asked the driver I was with,and he said I don’t need it for small quantities.Any advice welcome
Hi Baggie, it sounds like you need some advice mate!!
Without an ADR licence, you can carry a total of 333kgs Nett weight of either propane or butane, or a mixed load of both propane and butane, but the same limit of 333kgs applies to the whole load.
In calculating the 333kgs, you pay NO attention to the empty weight of the cylinders, you just count the Nett weight of the gas.
For example, the propane cylinders that stand approx the height of your chest are usually called “47s.”
These usually weigh 47kgs empty, but you don’t count that.
They usually hold 47kgs of propane.
To find out how many of these cylinders you can carry without an ADR licence,
you divide 333 by 47 = 7.085, so you can carry 7 of these without going above the 333 limit.
If you carry butane or propane in various size cylinders, just look at the cylinders for the contents expressed as Nett kgs and make sure your total doesn’t exceed 333kgs for the whole load in total.
BTW, any gas cylinders that are given to you as ‘empties’ also DON’T count towards your limit and these can be carried together with full cylinders on the same vehicle.
Whilst you remain below the 333kgs Nett limit, you’ll also need 1 X 2kg dry powder fire extinguisher.
If you go above that limit and get caught, … errr,… somebody will be for the chop. 
The above is what dangerous goods law says about the job you’re about to do, but please remember that you’ll also need to keep an eye on your axle and gross vehicle weights, because the weight of the whole load must be calculated for the purposes of that law, so there’s actually two sets of Regs at work here at the same time. 
Good luck in your new job and please let us know how it goes. 
I hope this helps. 
Thanks Dave,much appreciated.
Judging by the 2 days I’ve done,I think our “Transport Office” are on the ball.There’s generally between 5 and 15 canisters (we only service small outlets and domestics),from 7kg up to 19kg.I don’t think we do the bigger stuff fortunately.so hopefully I won’t be anywhere near the limit 
Baggie:
Thanks Dave,much appreciated.
Judging by the 2 days I’ve done,I think our “Transport Office” are on the ball.There’s generally between 5 and 15 canisters (we only service small outlets and domestics),from 7kg up to 19kg.I don’t think we do the bigger stuff fortunately.so hopefully I won’t be anywhere near the limit
Hi Baggie, It sounds like you’re well within the limit, but let’s just consider a worst case scenario based on the figures that you gave above…
15 X 19kgs = 285kgs, so you could legally carry a few more cylinders and still be within the 333kgs limit, but we won’t mention that to the boss eh.?
Please bear in mind that the system I’ve explained only works for gases which are liquified.
The calculation methods and ‘freebie’ limits for other types of gases carried in cylinders are different eg, oxygen, nitrogen, acetylene.