Whether your business is frozen food, pharmaceuticals, fine chocolates, chemicals or home improvement products, shipping your materials or products at the wrong temperature can mean major problems down the road. Here are a few things to keep in mind when dealing with temperature sensitive loads.
Vaccines
The flu season is among us. With 5-20% of the U.S. contracting the flu each year, especially during the October-May months when the flu is at its worst, people are scrambling to get vaccinated.
If you were told that getting the vaccine would help reduce your risk by 70-90%, would you get it? Probably yes. Maybe you already have. Now if you were told that there was a chance you could be injected with a vaccine that has been contaminated, would you still be as apt to do it? Now maybe you would think twice.
According to the CDC, 163 million to 168 million influenza vaccines are projected to be available this season. These vaccines have a storage temperature of 36° to 46°F (refrigerated). Any deviance in temperature results in a loss of potency and the vaccine becomes ineffective. In many cases, the freezing of a vaccine can be more detrimental than if exposed to heat, leading to a loss in potency or increased sensitivity, ultimately resulting in widespread recalls, health concerns, thousands/millions of dollars worth in losses, as well as a hit to your brand name and reputation. The CDC notes that all frozen vaccines should be disposed of.
Medications
Medications are another area of concern. A New York Times story covered the tale of a parent who had gone to the lake with her son who suffered from allergies. She provided him with his usual medication but it was ineffective. She discovered later that transporting it in a hot car for six hours and then storing it in the sweltering summer heat in the bathroom had ruined the medication. Some antibiotics break down to cause nasty kidney and stomach issues, while insulin and nitroglycerine are rendered ineffective when they’re needed most.
Frozen and Fresh Foods
What about food? The recent Chipotle outbreak in August was caused by food stored at temperatures too warm to be considered safe, causing more than 700 people in Ohio to fall ill. If frozen foods thaw and then re-freeze, they can carry particular illnesses to the general public from the producer. If frequent stops to deliver a few boxes or pallets of food happen during hot temperatures, it’s easy for the food inside to be exposed to fluctuating temperatures, making it more susceptible to spoilage.
Chemicals and Home Improvement Products
Common household paint, when exposed to freezing temperatures, may separate and not able to be mixed back together again effectively. Any number of chemicals have a low flash point, requiring them to be kept cool to prevent dangerous fires or explosions. This can endanger not only your goods, but also the driver transporting them and anyone else on the road at the time that things go south.
Being aware of the issues that can strike your temperature sensitive loads ahead of time means that you can take the proper precautions to ensure that your load arrives in good condition and won’t be rejected by the receiver or cause serious problems for the end user down the road.
Fortunately, Road Scholar Transport offers temperature protect trailers to help your products maintain the right conditions throughout the entire transportation process.
How Are Our Trailers Protected From Extreme Temperatures?
Many carriers use blanket wrap, but we DO NOT. Our reefers are imbedded with technology that tracks the temperature within and alerts our team in the event that the temperature goes out of range so that we can rectify the situation prior to the product losing its integrity. We can also provide an audit trail of the trailer temperature throughout the entire transportation process, as well as every time the trailer door was opened/closed, giving you and your customer piece of mind that your products maintained the proper quality and security from point A to point B.
To learn more about Road Scholar Transport’s Temperature-Protect Service visit our Temperature-Controlled Freight page at https://roadscholar.com/temperature-controlled-freight. We welcome the opportunity to learn more about your transportation needs. Contact us today.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaxsupply.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/health/16consumer.html
