hi
at what point when carrying gas cannisters (to power forklifts) is an adr ticket needed. i mean i can go and get one in my car no problem but would picking up half a dozen in a work van or lorry be fine.
thanks
No you would need a Adr if you collect that many in a van in .If you collect for private use in your car you dont need one. I dont no how your insurance company would act if you went bang 
thanks for your reply, but at what point do i need the adr, 1 bottle, 3 bottles, 20 kilos, 50 kilos.
its just that one of the drivers refused to pick one bottle up in a van the other day (he eventually caved and got it) and it got me wondering
hankthejeweller:
thanks for your reply, but at what point do i need the adr, 1 bottle, 3 bottles, 20 kilos, 50 kilos.
its just that one of the drivers refused to pick one bottle up in a van the other day (he eventually caved and got it) and it got me wondering
Im sure Diesel Dave will be along and will probably need to know the UN number or PSN to distinguish between Butane or Propane. But in some distant memory of a mind I think it is more than 3 cylinders or 330 kgs.
I think 8 wheels can answer this query also as they carry forklift trucks with the spare cylinders attached
hankthejeweller:
thanks for your reply, but at what point do i need the adr, 1 bottle, 3 bottles, 20 kilos, 50 kilos.
its just that one of the drivers refused to pick one bottle up in a van the other day (he eventually caved and got it) and it got me wondering
Hi hankthejeweller, Sorry mate I’ve only just spotted your question. 
The gas for FLTs is normally propane, so the ‘freebie’ limit before ADR springs into action is 333kgs Nett weight of gas.
That means that you DON’T count the empty weight of the cylinders.
Just go by the stated weight on the cylinder, usually 18kg, 19kg or some can be 21kg. (Other weights are possible too.)
You add up the number of Nett weights together, then to keep within the ADR ‘freebie’ limit, you need to have less than 333kgs Nett on board at any one time.
Empty cylinders DON’T count, so you can carry as many of those as you like.
If you can stay below 333kgs Nett, all you need is 1 X (proper) 2kg dry powder fire extinguisher.
Anything more than 333kgs Nett of propane per vehicle needs an ADR licence and orange boards and all the other Regs also kick in at that weight in the case of propane.
ravanoli is spot-on about private carriage in a car, but that would equally apply to any other vehicle. It’s the fact that it’s private carriage that allows you to take advantage of the private carriage exemption, the vehicle size is actually irrelevant.
The part of this that most people forget is that the goods MUST ALSO be packaged for retail sale. 
The key considerations here are that there’s no connection with ‘work’ and the type of packaging.
Here’s a fact that might seem strange…
The large (approx chest height) propane cylinders are usually around 47kgs, so you would do the math like this:
7 X 47kgs = 329kgs, therefore a driver without an ADR licence can carry seven of these, cos there’s less than 333kgs on board.
Another way of achieving compliance is to divide 333 by the weight of the cylinders to be carried.
Eg. 333 divided by 18kgs = 18.5, so you could carry 18 X 18kg cylinders perfectly legally without orange boards or an ADR licence.
The above works for propane, but other chemicals and gases have different ‘freebie’ limits AND different methods of calculation.
I hope that helps you Hank. 
Wheel Nut:
Im sure Diesel Dave will be along and will probably need to know the UN number or PSN to distinguish between Butane or Propane. But in some distant memory of a mind I think it is more than 3 cylinders or 330 kgs.
Hi Malc, propane is one of the commoner gases (UN 1978) so this old saddo didn’t need the ADR books for this one.
There’s no real limit to the number of cylinders, but you’re ever so close with the limit, it’s 333Kgs Nett for propane.
Butane (UN 1011) works in exactly the same for calculation of ‘freebies’ purposes.
Wheel Nut:
I think 8 wheels can answer this query also as they carry forklift trucks with the spare cylinders attached
Strange to relate, but:
ADR 1.1.3 Exemptions
1.1.3.1 Exemptions related to the nature of the transport operation
The provisions laid down in ADR do not apply to:
(b) the carriage of machinery or equipment not specified in this Annex and which happen to contain dangerous goods in their internal or operational equipment, provided that measures have been taken to prevent any leakage of contents in normal conditions of carriage;
So 8 Wheels is in the clear, provided the cylinder valve is closed on each FLT during transport.
However, if he carries ‘spare’ cylinders, the 333kg ‘freebie’ would apply to those cylinders.
He can therefore disregard the cylinders actually connected to the FLTs, cos they don’t count. 