What's ADR? Why does this matter?

ADR is short for the 'Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises Dangereuses par Route' — French for the 'European Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road'. In plain English: it's the rulebook for moving dangerous goods by road across Europe (and the UK and beyond). It is updated every two years (current edition is ADR 2025; the next is ADR 2027). Other modes have their own rulebooks: ships use IMDG, planes use IATA / ICAO TI, trains use RID.

ADR = European agreement on carriage of dangerous goods by road.

ADR is huge — but it answers a small set of questions: What is the substance (UN number, name, class, packing group)? How must it be packaged (drum, IBC, cylinder)? How must the package be labelled and marked? How must the vehicle be plated and placarded? What paperwork must travel with it? What training does the driver need? What equipment must the vehicle carry? What can it travel with (segregation)? What tunnels can it go through? What to do if something goes wrong (emergency response).

Classification (UN, name, class, PG).

If your job involves moving, sending, packing, loading or unloading anything that might be a dangerous good — even one box of batteries — ADR may apply. Getting it wrong has real consequences: roadside enforcement, fines for the company, loss of operator's licence, and worst of all, accidents that hurt people. The good news: most operators do this safely every day. The knowledge in these modules — UN numbers, hazard symbols, classes, packing groups — is the entry point. The next steps below take you from 'I get the basics' to 'I'm ready for the exam'.

Affects anyone moving dangerous products, even small amounts.

You're done with Foundations — well done. From here, two clear next steps. If you drive, or might drive, dangerous goods: take the ADR Driver track and prep for the SQA driver exam (pass mark 70%). If your job is compliance — making sure your company gets this right — take the DGSA track (pass mark 65%). Both tracks are still study aids; the legal certificate comes from an SQA/DfT-approved route. Either way, the basics you've just learned are the foundation everything else builds on.

Driver path → 'ADR Driver — Core' track (70% mock pass mark).