Legal requirements for temperature no longer pain in the neck for transport
With temperatures rising again, concern for temperature control is proportionally increasing. Transporters of conditioned foodstuffs and animal feed must comply with Good Distribution Practice, or the hygiene code laid down in the European Hygiene Regulation. The legal requirements are often a headache for transport companies. How can you, as a transporter, control the pains?
Registration & documentation
Temperature control during transport is very important. The minimum and maximum temperatures under which a product must be transported are described per product. In order to check this, the temperature of the refrigeration/freezer room, and in some cases even the core temperature of the product, must be measured. This part of the GDP/HACCP is the responsibility of the carrier, who is therefore responsible for its registration and documentation on behalf of the processing companies. This not only applies to food or feed, but also to other types of conditioned transport such as medicines or flowers. When it comes to transporting medicines, the interests are even greater, since a medicine or vaccine can lose its effect at the wrong temperature.
Guarantee on measured temperature
The problem within the sector is that the multitude of products have different storage temperatures and that there are no standards that are used by suppliers or processors. In addition, the demand for conditioned transport is constantly increasing, with the result that the pressure on transport is also increasing. To avoid discussions with the customer as a transporter, an accurate and automated registration of the temperature in the loading space, as well as the core temperature, is essential. Every year, many shipments are rejected because the measured temperature cannot be guaranteed. The cost of this runs into the thousands, if not tons, per load. That is a shame and unnecessary. Not to mention the considerable fines imposed by the NVWA if the measurement and registration method is not in order.
Current methods are not optimal
Current methods for measuring temperature prove to be insufficiently reliable in practice. Because the common measurement methods only measure the ambient or surface temperature, the measurements may deviate too much from reality. The results show peaks and troughs in the temperature curve, which are caused by (frequent) opening of the load compartment. The peaks and troughs do not have to have an extreme effect on the core temperature, but they do lead to discussions with customers or even to the rejection of delivered batches. And if you, as a transporter, want to be sure that the core temperature is correct, then until recently you could opt for very expensive equipment, such as probes. However, this often resulted in (part of) the cargo being rejected because the measured products were too badly damaged by the dipstick measurements. These costs are again recovered from the transporter.
Accurate measurements
By using sensor technology in combination with a smart algorithm, GPS-Buddy now enables transporters to calculate the core temperature accurately during conditioned transport. Using parameters entered beforehand, which relate to the product and the conditions in which it is transported, the algorithm accurately calculates the course of the temperature in the core of the product. The measurements are linked to the back office system and thus directly available for reporting to the customer.
Core-T Fleet
The automated core temperature solution, called Core-T Fleet, complies with the hygiene code for food safety and other GDP regulations applicable to the conditioned transport of medicines, chemicals or flowers. As opposed to manually measuring the core temperature, ambient temperature or surface temperature, this method saves the driver an enormous amount of time. He or she is automatically alerted to temperature fluctuations, which prevents loss of cargo. Discussions with the customer are a thing of the past and, as a carrier, you have the assurance that you are complying with all legal requirements.