Vetting out local trucking companies to find those with a proven expertise of servicing the pharmaceutical supply chain can be a daunting task; however one of great importance as pharmaceuticals are “most vulnerable during transport.”(1) A temperature excursion, improper handling, theft, adulteration, and even poor/unsanitary equipment can lead to recalls, health risks, lawsuits, brand impairment, and much more. As Modality Solutions notes, “Manufacturers are obligated to include distribution as part of their overall quality system and should be continuously monitored and updated to adhere to industry best practices.”
Looking for pharmaceutical carriers to help with your refrigerated shipping and pharma logistics’ needs? Since 1988, Road Scholar Transport has been solving risk-adverse, investment grade customers’ transportation needs throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. To us, each of our customers’ freight is as fragile as a carton of eggs, easily damaged if not receiving the care and custody it deserves during transport, which is why we maintain a damage claim record of 0.0004%, one of the lowest in the industry.
Road Scholar Transport does business with a multitude of pharmaceutical companies. As a recognized asset-based carrier on the east coast, we offer less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload (TL), dry van, frozen and reefer, heated, teams, expedited, and same-day service options. These various features allow us to provide services to all facets of the pharmaceutical industry, from raw materials to finished goods inventory.
Road Scholar Transport strongly focuses on the temperature-controlled business and the security of your manufactured goods to deliver a safe product to your end user, the way it left. Here are a few ways how:
Weekend Delivery Service
Has your cargo ever sat due to a long holiday weekend? Have you ever called a carrier to pick up an urgent load on a Friday only to have it docked until Monday? It is statistically proven that cargo at rest is cargo at risk with the greatest number of cargo thefts occurring on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Unlike many of our regional competitors who will not pick up protect from freezing shipments on a Friday because they do not want to be responsible for protecting it throughout the weekend, we have a protect from freezing policy that allows us to pick up and deliver five days a week. We at Road Scholar think that a competent supplier should be able to provide 100% protect coverage and not the conventional 80% (Mon-Thur.). Road Scholar Transport offers weekend delivery service for our customers, getting their product delivered quickly and reducing cargo theft.
Expedited Service
Road Scholar offers 24-hour expedited and same day service throughout our core service areas for those time-critical situations.
No Transfers
We cut back on the handling of your products by offering dock-to-dock service with NO transfers. You can be assured that everything picking up on our equipment, delivers on our equipment.
Qualified Drivers
We hire only the most professional and experienced drivers who are subject to background checks and safety tests well beyond the industry standard. Each of our drivers are uniformed and constantly trained on the latest cargo transport threats. We also undergo ten year criminal history background check of drivers and fingerprinting for Federal Security Threat Assessment.
Sanitary Equipment
While wooden pallets serve as a means of cross-contamination, being very porous, and therefore, absorbing and maintaining fluids that can breed bacteria as well as contain splinters and nails from the wood that can puncture products, wooden floor trailers similarly pose a concern. We take extra precaution to ensure that your cargo is being transported in a clean environment, providing aluminum floor trailers and conducting regular sweeps, preventing cross-contamination and creating a more sanitary environment.
Knowledgeable Dispatch Team
Freight can easily be damaged by unplanned routes that send trucks into areas not suitable for its size equipment. Our around the clock dispatch and operations team carefully plans all routes, including secure route geofencing around Road Scholar facilities and customer facilities (upon request).
Security
Cargo theft costs the trucking and shipping industry nearly $30 billion a year. Road Scholar implements only the toughest security features to our fleet, protecting your products from being damaged and tampered with. Road Scholar Transport’s Self-Created “Pentagon Distribution Model” provides 100% accountable secure transport by focusing on technology, visibility, protocols, equipment, and audit trailers. Security features include:
*Real-time satellite tracking right down to the breadcrumbs.
*Drivers, trailers, and power units are all equipped with redundant GPS tracking.
*Electronic door monitoring.
*Navalock (Bolt cutter, sledgehammer, and chisel proof. U.S. Customs and test labs have certified the Navalock against every possible in-transit threat of surreptitious removal or entry)
*Babaco TRUK LOC V (Tamper and weather proof. Permanently installed on vehicle.)
*Secure route optimization to avoid high risk areas.
*Proof-of- Delivery with Route Verification.
These are just some of the reasons that we NEVER suffered a full truckload loss. President and CEO, Jim Barrett, has been a repeat guest on “Tough Talk” by Joe Peters, anti-terrorism expert. Road Scholar Transport is also a member of the Cargo Security Alliance.
Quality
*Platinum Pharmaceutical CSR assigned to your account
*Average Tractor Age < 3 years
*Pre-appointed shipments
*SmartWay Transport Partner
*Dedicated vehicles/equipment upon request
*All vehicles are air-ride equipped
*In cab scanners to make documentation immediately available
*Driver behavior events are recorded, including hard breaking incidents, idling, excessive speed, rapid acceleration/deceleration
*Full compliance of ELD mandate
*Drive Cams
*Wingman Collision Avoidance Systems
*Anti-Rollover Protection
*Roof Decals
*We’ve never been cited for a piece of faulty equipment involved in an accident
Road Scholar Transport’s Detailed Standard Operating and High Security Protocols are detailed within our Quality Program documentation.
Temperature Protect
