Marjorie - your staff is allowed to do the packing and moving under the US DOT Materials of Trade exemption. However- all hazardous materials must be packed according to DOT specifications (no cardboard boxes in the back of the minivan), and the proper paperwork must accompany each shipment. That means a hazardous materials bill of lading, with proper shipping name, hazard class, packing group, and DOT number.

You might find it advantageous to at least have a contractor assist with the move since there is still a lot that can go wrong. If you have qualified, trained staff to establish the right hazard class then you might be able to do it yourselves, I suppose. I'd recommend spending some time with 49CFR 172.101 (Column 8, in particular), to make sure everything is packed according to spec. You could most likely use fiber drums or boxes to pack most of the chemicals, commingling by hazard class.

Russ