Sending and receiving temperature-sensitive products requires knowing what the regulations are and having a knowledgeable temperature-controlled transport partner. Explore all the bare necessities for transporting temperature-controlled goods and how the right logistics team can help.
What Is Temp-Controlled Transport?
Temperature-controlled transport—sometimes shortened to temp-controlled transport—is the process of moving temperature-sensitive products. It’s typically done without ever exposing them to temperatures outside their required range during transit.
Some of the common categories for temp-controlled transport include:
- Refrigerated: Trucks and containers within this category have internal refrigeration systems that protect the temperature of the goods they’re carrying. These mainly keep temperatures above the freezing point while still keeping them cold enough that heat-sensitive reactions or bacteria growth are less likely to occur.
- Frozen: In this case, products must be kept below freezing, but don’t necessarily need to be below 0º Fahrenheit. This category includes most types of frozen food products.
- Deep-Frozen: By contrast, most products that need deep-freezing must be kept at or below 0º Fahrenheit with no exceptions. Common examples of this situation include vaccines and other temperature-sensitive medicines.
How Does Temperature-Controlled Logistics Work?
Storing and transporting temperature-sensitive products requires caution, plus proper equipment and logistics considerations. These are the most common factors that your temperature-controlled transport partner should address.
Maintaining Compliance
Numerous industries and agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have strict regulations that warrant the use of temperature-controlled trucking for perishable food, pharmaceuticals, and other goods that people can consume.
Staying compliant with these regulations requires working with a temp-controlled trucking and logistics company. Working with a specialized organization like this makes it easier for you to keep your products within the temperature range they need to stay fresh and usable.
Using the Right Equipment
Shipping refrigerated, frozen, or deep-frozen goods requires more than simply storing products in styrofoam boxes before they ship. Instead, it often requires specialized equipment, such as:
- Refrigerated trucks
- Temperature-controlled ISO containers
- Refrigerated vans
- Insulated cargo boxes
- And more
Having the right refrigerated shipping equipment available to you with a temperature-controlled freight partner guarantees you have the right equipment for your products that have temperature sensitivities.
Warehousing
It’s not always possible to have your cargo shipped from Point A to Point B in a single trip, especially if the destination is in an urban or extremely remote area. For the stops between temp-controlled trucks, having a cold storage warehouse or distribution center makes it easier to keep your products cool or frozen.
Many cold storage warehouses have multiple rooms with unique temperature requirements. They also have humidity controls to protect a product’s integrity and monitors to track the temperature and other conditions in each area of the facility.
Choosing the Right Partners
It’s important to find a transportation partner that knows temp-controlled trucking inside and out. Here is what you should look for in a cold-chain logistics partner, no matter what types of products you need to ship.
Transparency
Your temperature-controlled transport partner should provide transparency at every stage of the transportation logistics process. Whether that means providing transparent, itemized pricing or enterprise-oriented delivery scores, they should be able to provide information about their operations and services without hesitation.
At Mulder Brothers Brokerage, we provide must-arrive-by date (MABD) scores for our shipping customers upon request. We’ll always guarantee you have the most accurate information possible on a weekly basis whenever you need it.
Reliability
For temperature-controlled transportation partners, you can tell a lot based on their delivery rates. They should have consistently high deliverability rates and always aim to provide your products on time, without fail.
However, some delays—such as severe weather, ice storms, or backlogs due to rail or maritime disruptions—are challenging to avoid. If these situations come up, your temperature-controlled transportation partner should be able and willing to communicate with you about what you can expect and what’s causing the delay.
Experience
No matter how long your partner has been in business, they should have ample experience with providing nationwide coverage and world-class support for deliveries. Always be willing to ask your temperature-controlled transportation partner about the experience that their truckers have with refrigerated and frozen shipping. They should be willing to talk about each person’s level of experience and dedication to ensuring that your products are delivered on time and in good condition, no matter their temperature needs.
How Mulder Brothers Can Help
Mulder Brothers Brokerage has the experience, transparency, and reliability you need as a producer, distributor, or retailer.
We have dedicated our lives to being stewards of our resources and caring servants to our customers, so you can always guarantee that we’ll do the right thing for your business—even when nobody is watching.
Talk to Our Team
Mulder Brothers is always ready to provide the temperature-controlled transportation services you need. Request a quote today to see how we can support your business.