If you need to get across town fast and your choices are a taxi cab or public transit, you’d likely prefer the cab.
Times being what they are, however, the price of that cab ride might drive you to the bus stop. But what if you could share an air-conditioned cab ride with others going to the exact same place, and pay about the same as the cost of the bus ride?
Welcome to pool distribution. Direct car service for a mass transit price.
Weber Logistics has opened a 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Eastvale, CA (Inland Empire Region) for distribution of food and consumer packaged goods for multiple clients.
If you’re managing a cold chain warehouse, expiration date management and product integrity are constant worries. Slip up and you risk losing inventory, angering customers, or incurring fines.
That’s why choosing an experienced partner for cold chain warehousing and refrigerated trucking is critical.
At Weber, we distribute a lot of candy.
In fact, if you’ve eaten any of the sweet snacks pictured here and you live in the Western U.S., it’s a pretty sure bet that the candy traveled through a Weber distribution center.
What exactly happens at Weber’s temperature-controlled warehouses to ensure that the quality and integrity of these products are maintained throughout the cold chain distribution cycle?
Check out this 2-minute video to find out.
Do you manage distribution for temperature-controlled products?
If so, you know that expiration date management and product integrity are constant worries. Choosing an experienced partner for cold chain warehousing and transportation is critical.
Check out this 2-minute video from Weber Logistics on cold chain logistics management.
In two words: control and organization. Cold chain management in the supply chain typically focuses on groceries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, as well as some high tech products. Each of the products under these umbrellas requires a constant temperature control to ensure the safe production and delivery to their final destination.
Assuming that production and warehousing at your own facility are closely monitored for the correct temperature, how do you know that the precise temperature range is in place when you hand your goods over to your carrier? Keeping in mind that any fluctuation outside of the normal range can be critical, you also have a mandate to abide by laws and regulations that are in place to avoid damage to the product and worse, a recall.
For more information, read our paper on “Choosing a 3PL for Food Distribution.”
How do I know that my products are being handled at the required temperature range?
The problem is, you don’t. Unless you choose a cold chain logistics provider who knows its business and uses the latest temperature monitoring equipment. This applies to both warehousing and transportation. Programming the cooling system to account for both temperature and humidity levels is paramount during the warehouse stay and subsequent journey. If the ranges fall or rise outside of the customer’s requirements, automatic alerts are sent to an appointed manager. In addition, historical data is available by downloading a minute-by-minute status report from the cooling unit while the product is in the care of the 3PL provider.
Choosing a cold chain logistics expert takes some effort on your part. A visit to their facility should display monitors that are visible no matter what location you happen to be in. Do the truck cabs have digital thermostats that the driver can see easily? Ask what happens in the event that the cooling system falters and how they maintain the proper temperature until the repair work is complete.
Cold chain management history.
Shipping and storing temperature controlled products always involves some risk. Before you take the final step in choosing a 3PL provider, make sure that they have a solid reputation as a refrigerated transportation company. Ask for customer referrals and what types of different products that they have handled.
Weber Logistics has been offering 3PL services for nearly a century. Cold chain management has been a major part of our operation for decades and our expertise in handling food grade products as well as other regulated products has made us an industry leader in California and the entire west coast. Contact us to learn more about our services or call 855-GO WEBER (469-3237).
Contact Weber Logistics to learn more about their cold chain management solutions:
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 trucking services, 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:
With many decades of experience in cold chain management for food industry customers in the Western U.S., Weber Logistics pays a lot of attention to the weather. And it’s hard not to notice these days – it’s HOT out there!
