LATAM Cargo automates dangerous-goods acceptance

LATAM Cargo has integrated IATA’s DG AutoCheck dangerous-goods validation system directly with its Croamis cargo platform, beginning at its Miami operation. The implementation makes LATAM the first airline in the Americas to integrate the technology into its core system and is intended to reduce manual checking while retaining the physical inspection required during cargo acceptance.

The software validates information in a shipper’s Dangerous Goods Declaration against the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and can identify discrepancies in real time. Customers can then be alerted earlier, while acceptance staff are guided through an interactive checklist for examining packaging and classification.

Validated information can also be reused later in the shipment process to support preparation of the Notification to Captain, or NOTOC, which tells the flight crew about dangerous goods carried on the aircraft. Reusing data reduces repeated transcription between acceptance and flight documentation and creates a more consistent digital record.

The integration was developed with IATA and Wipro and connects DG AutoCheck directly with Croamis rather than requiring staff to use it as an isolated reference tool. LATAM plans to roll the system out progressively across its network following the Miami implementation.

Dangerous-goods acceptance is particularly suited to rules-based digital checking because the documentary process is detailed and repetitive. Declarations have to contain the correct identification, classification, quantities, packing details, and other information, with applicable state and operator variations added where necessary.

That creates a substantial checking burden for trained cargo staff. An error can also have an immediate logistics consequence: if a discrepancy is discovered only when a shipment reaches the airline close to flight cut-off, there may be insufficient time for the shipper or forwarder to correct the paperwork before the planned uplift.

Real-time validation moves that problem earlier in the process. The software can compare the declaration with applicable requirements and highlight inconsistencies, allowing corrections to be made before the error becomes a missed departure or rejected shipment.

The physical inspection remains separate. Packaging condition, labels, marks, and the condition of the actual shipment cannot be established merely by checking declaration fields, which is why DG AutoCheck also guides the acceptance employee through a structured inspection rather than attempting to remove trained staff from the process altogether.

IATA says users of DG AutoCheck have reported reductions of up to 50% in processing time together with fewer errors. Those are general figures from users of the product and are not LATAM Cargo results, so the Miami deployment should not yet be credited with the same improvement.

The operational case is nevertheless clear. Dangerous goods are not a niche category restricted to obviously hazardous industrial chemicals. Air cargo regularly carries batteries, healthcare materials, manufacturing inputs, and other products that fall within dangerous-goods rules, meaning a documentation failure can interrupt ordinary industrial supply chains as well as specialist hazardous-material movements.

Integrating the validation into Croamis also gives the project more relevance than simply digitising a paper checklist. Once a declaration is validated, the same structured data can move into subsequent cargo processes, reducing the number of times the information has to be entered or interpreted manually.

That creates a cleaner audit trail but increases dependence on the quality of the original data. Automated validation can identify inconsistencies against the rules, but it cannot compensate for a shipper entering inaccurate information about the material itself. Responsibility for correct classification and declaration therefore remains an essential part of the process.

The network rollout will introduce further complexity because operating conditions differ between stations. Customer profiles, airport processes, regulatory requirements, system connections, and staff workflows vary, and LATAM says the phased approach will allow the technology to be adapted as it expands.

For freight forwarders, more consistent acceptance could reduce the amount of uncertainty around dangerous-goods handover if the integration works as intended. An earlier discrepancy warning gives the shipper or agent more opportunity to resolve the issue without rearranging transport, while standardised digital records can make communication between parties easier.

The safety case remains more important than speed. A faster acceptance process has little value if it weakens the checks designed to prevent incorrectly prepared dangerous goods entering air transport. DG AutoCheck is intended to automate the repeatable regulatory comparison while keeping physical examination and trained operational judgement in the workflow.

Miami now provides the first live test of that integration for LATAM Cargo. The useful measures will be acceptance time, documentation error rates, rejected shipments, and whether the same process can be reproduced consistently as additional stations come onto the system. If those results hold, the deployment could turn a complex manual compliance task into a more standardised digital component of routine air-freight acceptance.