As a provider of refrigerated trucking services, one of the questions we are often asked is: “How can you demonstrate that products are being maintained at the required temperature range?”
This question is addressed in our recent Insight paper: “Choosing a 3PL for Food Product Distribution.”
On the temperature controlled warehousing side, we have precise digital thermostats and can program the cooling system to maintain temperature and humidity within a specified min-max range, including frozen (0°– -10°F), chilled (34° – 38°F) or confectionery (55° – 65°F). This system is integrated with a monitoring system that captures actual humidity and temperature readings, compares them with customer-required ranges and issues immediate alerts to key managers if readings fall out of range. Email and text alerts continue until the issue is resolved. Experienced 3PLs like Weber can output a report at any time showing historical temperature and humidity levels over any required time period.
As for refrigerated transporation, we first learn the required temperature range prior to pickup and pre-cool the trailer so it’s ready to go upon arrival. The temperature range is programmed into the refrigeration unit’s instrument panel, which is located on the refrigeration unit at the front of the trailer. Once freight is loaded and in transit, the instrument panel displays color-coded signals that indicate whether the temperature inside of the trailer is within range. This panel is easily visible to the driver in his left-side rear view mirror. If there is a need to see historical temperature readings, we simply plug a computer into the refrigeration unit and output a report that provides trailer temperature readings up to 60 days prior.
Recently, a candy company customer received a call from a retailer noting product quality problems possibly linked to temperatures being out of compliance during the delivery cycle. We pulled our reefer log and were able to quickly demonstrate to the company’s quality team that temperatures were within range during the delivery in question. They then looked further upstream and identified a cold chain integrity problem in their warehouse process.
Refrigerated trucking companies must certainly be able to deliver precise temperature control capabilities. But they must also be able to provide accurate historical reporting to answer questions about cold chain integrity from retail customers or regulating agencies.
For more detail on how to assess 3PL capabilities for temperature-controlled and food-grade products, download our Insight paper on food product distribution, which provides five essential questions you must ask potential 3PL partners.
Interested in learning more about refrigerated trucking services? Download the Weber Insight: