SPECIALIST SERVICE

LICENSED, TRAINED AND EQUIPPED

Kirwan Haulage holds full ADR licensing for the transport of hazardous goods across Ireland and the UK. Our trained drivers, placarded vehicles with full UN number display and compliant equipment, and strict operational procedures ensure that dangerous goods are moved safely, legally, and on schedule. From Mountrath, Co. Laois, we plan and run ADR movements for manufacturers, distributors, and industrial clients who need a haulier that treats dangerous goods as a regulated discipline rather than a generic delivery.

ADR stands for the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road. It sets out how hazardous substances must be classified, packaged, labelled, documented, and transported. Every ADR job we run is built around those rules: the right vehicle for the class of goods, the right paperwork travelling with the load, the right driver training, and route plans that respect tunnel restrictions and prohibited roads. Our approach to hazardous materials transport is to keep the compliance burden on us, not on our customers.

WHY CHOOSE KIRWAN FOR ADR TRANSPORT

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ADR Licensed Drivers

Current ADR certificates, trained in hazard ID and emergency response

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Compliant Vehicles

Proper placarding, fire equipment, spill containment

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Full Documentation

Transport docs, emergency info cards, regulatory paperwork

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Safety Protocols

Pre-journey checks, secure loading, route planning

THE ADR CLASSES WE TRANSPORT

ADR groups dangerous goods into nine hazard classes. We are equipped to move loads in the classes most commonly needed by Irish industry:

Class 2 - Gases. Compressed, liquefied, and refrigerated gases, including industrial gases and calibration gases.

Class 3 - Flammable liquids. Fuel oils, solvents, paints, and related flammable products.

Class 4 - Flammable solids and self-reactive substances. Handled on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific UN number and packaging.

Class 5 - Oxidising substances and organic peroxides. Handled on a case-by-case basis.

Class 6 - Toxic and infectious substances. Handled on a case-by-case basis depending on the UN number and packaging group.

Class 8 - Corrosives. Acids, caustics, and industrial cleaners.

Class 9 - Miscellaneous dangerous goods. Lithium batteries, elevated-temperature substances, and environmentally hazardous materials.

Class 1 explosives and Class 7 radioactive materials require specialist operators with dedicated fleet and licensing, and are outside our scope. If your load falls into those classes we are happy to point you toward suitable providers.

If you are unsure which class applies to your goods, share the safety data sheet (SDS) and UN number with us when you request a quote and we will confirm whether we can carry it.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND DOCUMENTATION

Compliant ADR transport depends on a set of interlocking controls. We hold each of them in-house:

Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser (DGSA). Any operation involved in the carriage of dangerous goods by road must appoint a qualified DGSA. The DGSA oversees compliance, advises on classification and packaging, reviews incidents, and produces the annual operator report. Kirwan Haulage has a DGSA arrangement in place to cover all of our ADR activity.

Driver training - Driver CPC plus ADR certification. All of our drivers hold the standard Driver Certificate of Professional Competence. Drivers handling ADR loads also hold current ADR driver training certificates for the classes and tank/packages they carry. Refresher training is tracked and renewed on schedule.

Transport documentation. Every ADR consignment travels with the correct transport document identifying the UN number, proper shipping name, hazard class, packing group, quantity, and consignor/consignee details. Drivers also carry transport emergency cards (tremcards) describing the actions to take in the event of an incident involving the goods on board.

Vehicle configuration. Vehicles used for ADR work are equipped with orange placarding, UN number displays, fire extinguishers sized to the vehicle category, wheel chocks, high-visibility warning equipment, and class-appropriate spill and leak containment kit. Our fleet includes rigid and articulated units suitable for packaged dangerous goods.

ROUTE PLANNING AND OPERATIONAL SAFETY

ADR loads cannot simply take the shortest route. Certain tunnels carry category codes that restrict which classes of dangerous goods may pass, some roads are prohibited for hazardous traffic, and dwell-time rules limit how long a loaded ADR vehicle may be left unattended. Our planners check each job against these constraints before dispatch and brief the driver on any restrictions along the route. For cross-border work into Northern Ireland and onward to Britain, route plans take UK ADR requirements into account as well.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

We treat emergency response as part of the service, not an afterthought. Drivers are trained on first-response actions for the classes they carry, vehicles are kitted with class-appropriate spill containment and personal protective equipment, and our office has clear incident notification procedures if something does go wrong. Our ISO 45001 occupational health and safety certification sits alongside our ADR compliance to give customers a documented safety management system they can audit.

WHEN TO TALK TO US

If you are moving flammable liquids, industrial gases, corrosives, lithium batteries, or other hazardous goods on a regular run or as a one-off consignment, send us the SDS and collection/delivery details and we will come back with a quote, a confirmation of whether the goods fall within our ADR scope, and a proposed vehicle and routing. For integrated work that mixes hazardous and non-hazardous loads, our general haulage fleet can handle the non-ADR portion from the same depot. Contact us to get started.

FLEET & EQUIPMENT