When it comes to transporting perishable goods safely, temperature-controlled logistics are a must. This approach to supply chain management involves the transportation, storage and preservation of temperature-sensitive goods via controlled environments designed to maintain specific temperature ranges with extreme precision.
The importance of temperature controlled logistics
The majority of perishable products require temperature control logistics during transportation. For instance, some medicines and biological products will react when exposed to environments that are too hot or too cold, leading to damage and spoiling.
Temperature controlled transportation options are available for many reasons, including:
- Preventing waste through goods perishing
- Ensuring goods are safe for consumption on arrival
- Following legal guidelines
- Keeping other temperature-controlled goods, such as pharmaceuticals, safe for use.
Hence why it’s essential to choose a distributor that offers temperature-controlled logistics from ambient transport services to frozen food distribution. Transporting food safely requires a strict set of rules to follow, from storage and loading to maintaining temperatures throughout the journey. If not followed, all involved will be prosecuted for the associated public health implications.
Standards and regulations for temperature-controlled goods
As supply chains dealing with temperature-sensitive goods can be complex and delicate operations, there are numerous legislative standards established and enforced by various governing bodies and institutions. These requirements are set to ensure compliance with high-level hygiene and food safety standards and risk assessment. Well-known standards include:
An industry-leading distributor will go above and beyond the current food transport standards and legislation to provide an impeccable service that will adapt to the changing needs of manufacturers, suppliers, storage companies and retailers alike.
The temperature control logistics process: cold chain management
A cold chain refers to a supply chain that handles and transports perishable and temperature-critical goods such as edible oils, meat, dairy, flora, chemicals and pharmaceuticals among others. During this process, typically a set low-temperature range must be maintained and managed throughout the process laid out below.
- Preparation
- Loading
- Transportation
- Arrival
Safe preparation
The first part of temperature-controlled logistics involves the preparation itself. As distributors of food, we need to make sure we’re sticking to guidelines on contamination – for example, keeping allergens such as gluten away from products marked gluten-free.
Products should be stored appropriately in the warehouse, with pallets strong enough to support heavy loads to prevent breakage.
Likewise, for all products that need to be kept below a certain temperature, the right refrigeration facilities should be in place. For example, in their guidelines on how to ship frozen food, the Food Hygiene Regulations 2006 state that dairy products should be kept at a maximum of 8°C.
Loading the products
Both food products and pharmaceuticals need to be kept away from ambient temperatures for as long as possible. As such, we need to consider planning once again – including accounting for time out of chilled environments to load products.
Manufacturers should consider how long it takes to handle ramps or move products, as well as any power connections they may need to maintain low temperatures.
Transporting the products
With ‘thawing time’ kept to a minimum, it’s now time to consider how to transport the products safely. One way to do this is to consider outsourcing distribution to a fleet with a live analytics system. This can monitor vehicle temperature in real-time and report any outages or other potential problems.
These analytics can also help to ensure air is being circulated efficiently, and that energy-saving modes are not activated.
Beyond relying on technology, we also need to consider our own forward planning. For example, all journeys should be planned in advance to take the most direct route, checking for traffic updates, accidents or road closures that could increase the transport time.
On arrival
Checking for safe temperatures does not stop as soon as the journey is over. Once again, all timings should be accounted for when unloading products – keeping products from exposure to ambient temperatures.
Distributors should then use a stringent and standardised inspection process to ensure the goods have arrived in peak condition. An efficient warehouse will prioritise productivity and invest in the latest training for all staff, to encourage continual improvement that will see products handled and stored with the utmost care.
Distribution hubs may even use smart solutions such as cloud-based warehouse management systems (WMS) in order to maintain real-time tracking within the premises.
Temperature controlled transportation use cases
There is a myriad of industries that rely on temperature controlled logistics companies from hospitality and retail to agriculture and healthcare and beyond. And with the road freight market increasing year on year, the need for these services is only on the rise.
Here is a brief overview of two sectors that make up some of the greatest users of temperature controlled transportation services.
Temperature control requirements in the food industry
Unsurprisingly, the food industry has a long-standing history with cold chain logistics and distribution, and you can trace this history back for centuries as methods were created to reduce mould and food spoilage.
There are a number of temperature classifications for different food types:
- Tropical fruit – there are several types of fruit that require a stable range of 12° to 14°C to undergo controlled ripening.
- Ambient – ambient temperatures of 5°C to 25°C are typically required for products such as tinned and processed foods.
- Chill – many vegetables, dairy products and meat require refrigeration at 2° to 4°C
- Frozen – foods that need to be frozen must be transported at temperatures between -10° and -20°C.
- Deep-frozen – ice cream, seafood and other items that require deep freezing need to be kept at -25° to -30°C.
Temperature control requirements in the pharmaceutical industry
Another obvious use case for temperature control logistics is the pharmaceutical industry. Since the event of COVID-19, big pharma has seen unprecedented growth, part of the parcel being an increase in distribution processes and demand for ultra-low-temperature shipment.
As with the food industry, chilled and frozen temperatures are required for biological material and medications at pinpoint accuracy, but there is also an increasing demand for ultra-low temperatures. For example, the billions of COVID-19 vaccines produced in the years following the pandemic require an extremely low temperature of -70°C for safe distribution and storage.
Easy Compliance
To remain compliant and to stay one step ahead with vehicle and loading checks, you should always work with the professionals. Find out more about temperature-controlled logistics and refrigerated distribution services from Dennis Distribution’s trusted specialists.