Air Temperature vs. Core Temperature: The Real Story Behind Safe Food Transport

Why ambient temperature alone isn’t enough

Traditionally, fleets relied on sensors that track the air temperature inside the refrigerated compartment. While workable on paper, real-world use reveals a significant gap between the temperature of the air and the actual product. Every time the door opens, warm air enters, and sensors record a spike even though the products themselves respond much slower. The result? Apparent temperature peaks that don’t impact core temperature — but that can spark disputes, rejected loads or customer complaints.

In short: ambient temperature doesn’t tell the full story.

Core temperature: insight at the heart of the matter

To address this gap, GPS‑Buddy, together with engineering partner Optimal Thermal Solutions, developed a unique method that continuously calculates the core temperature of products based on algorithms. Instead of inserting probes or relying on manual spot-checks, our solution uses load-compartment sensors combined with product parameters — packaging type, mass, moisture content, loading time, airflow and more. The algorithm then delivers an accurate picture of the temperature evolution inside the product — from loading to delivery.

This brings not only greater accuracy but also full automation. No manual thermometers, no measuring damage, no human error.

Case study: Huuskes – turning measurement into meaningful insight

A strong example comes from food and beverage partner Huuskes, operating 90 refrigerated trucks delivering meals and groceries to hospitals, care homes and caterers.
“As we were only measuring the air temperature, we did not always capture a realistic picture,” says logistics manager Harrie Reink. “Together with GPS-Buddy we developed a solution that tracks the actual core temperature. Since then we have far fewer discussions with clients and much tighter control over our quality.”
With GPS-Buddy’s sensor- and algorithm-technology feeding into the Flowter platform, Huuskes now sees live the core temperature of each load — and can share this with customers for HACCP-compliance and audit reports. The benefits? Less manual work, virtually no errors and genuine assurance.

Innovation that brings operational peace of mind

By shifting measurement from air to product core, guesswork leaves the cold chain. Drivers no longer need to hand-write temperature logs or worry about checking probes: the system handles it automatically. As soon as the compartment door opens, the algorithm recalculates and updates the product temperature profile — delivering a continuous, realistic temperature log that works for quality assurance, logistics planning and regulatory proof.
“There needs only be one shipment where temperature fails and the regulator shows up,” says GPS-Buddy Transport Consultant Daniel Engelberts. “With our solution you can demonstrate that core temperature remained stable — that is the difference between a rejected and an accepted delivery.”

The future of temperature management

The move from ambient to core temperature marks a major step in smart, sustainable logistics. By combining sensors, algorithms and data analytics, we make temperature-management more reliable, easier and fully digital. For food logistics, pharmaceutical shipping or chemical and flower transport, this means:

• higher product quality

• fewer rejections and customer claims

• full HACCP-compliance

• realtime reporting for audits and clients
  And above all: operational comfort, because everything is automatically logged.

Want to learn more?

Our specialists at GPS-Buddy are ready to help you transition to fully automatic temperature tracking for your fleet.
Contact our experts for a free consultation.