Why does your fleet need to monitor frozen goods with Cartrack’s temperature monitoring system?
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Cold chain logistics ensures the safe transportation of products like meat, seafood, dairy products, and pharmaceuticals. A small temperature shift can compromise the quality of these products, cost businesses a lot of money, and, in some cases, create health risks to consumers. To mitigate these risks, industries handling temperature-sensitive goods rely on reliabletemperature monitoring systems.
Today, we discuss how Cartrack’s temperature monitoring system helps ensure that goods are delivered safely and efficiently, preserving their quality through transit.
In this article:
Understand the importance of temperature monitoring in frozen goods transportation
Know the industries that rely on temperature monitoring for frozen goods
Learn how temperature monitoring systems benefit your business
The Importance of Temperature Monitoring in Frozen Goods Transportation
Temperature monitoring is essential for reasons such as ensuring product safety, preventing spoilage and loss, and complying with regulations. Failing to monitor temperatures can lead to financial losses and health risks. A reliable system ensures the right conditions are maintained throughout transit.
Ensuring Product Safety and Quality
Frozen goods must be stored at -18°C or colder to maintain product safety and quality. This helps preserve freshness and prevent contamination, which can pose serious health risks to customers.
The same applies to certain medicines and vaccines; if they are not frozen correctly, the quality will be compromised, affecting their efficacy. This could negatively affect patients and the industry at large.
Preventing Spoilage and Loss
Perishable products are often damaged due to poor cold chain practices. When goods are not transported at the correct temperature, they are more likely to thaw and grow bacteria, resulting in spoilage or damage. This means they will be delivered to customers in a compromised condition.
Failing to meet quality standards can cause businesses to face costly product recalls and significant financial losses. Product recalls pose a huge threat to profitability, with expenses such as:
Regulatory notifications: Costs incurred from notifying relevant government departments, which includes filing reports and paying fees.
Crisis management and PR: Expenses related to hiring professionals to manage media enquiries and protect the company’s reputation during the recall.
Product retrieval: Costs associated with collecting recalled products from retailers, distributors, and consumers.
Testing: Costs of examining the recalled products to identify defects or contaminants.
Storage: Expenses for temporarily storing the recalled products before disposal.
Disposal of products: Costs related to the safe disposal of these recalled products, which may include recycling or other safe methods of disposal.
Loss of unsold products: Financial loss from products that cannot be sold due to the recall.
Additional labour costs: Companies may need to hire extra employees to assist with the recalling process, which is an added expense.
Investigation of the cause: Costs associated with identifying the root of the issue leading to the recall.
Recalls can lead to costly lawsuits and damage a company’s reputation. This loss of trust can have far-reaching consequences for business operations.
Reputational damage often outweighs the financial losses of a product recall. Customers may choose not to support your business anymore, which will ultimately affect your business’s bottom line. A good and reliable monitoring system can prevent this from happening.
Complying with Industry Regulations
A monitoring system ensures that your business complies with industry regulations. Non-compliance may lead to legal action against distribution companies.
Here are some key regulations according to these standards:
Hygiene
Clean and disinfect all surfaces inside vehicles used for the transportation of chilled or frozen food before each use. Ensure that the vehicles are free from any unpleasant odours.
Only accept chilled or frozen food that is properly wrapped or packed hygienically. If the products are unwrapped, follow the proper regulations permitted for transportation. When loading the food, arrange it in a way that allows cool air to circulate freely around the product. Avoid stacking the food in a way that blocks airflow.
Handling Practices for transport by road
Before loading, pre-cool vehicles to within 5°C of the storage temperature recommended for the transportation of the product. Drivers can do this by starting the truck’s refrigeration unit and temperature monitoring systems. During the pre-cooling process, the compartment door must be closed. Once the vehicle is pre-cooled, the system must be turned off to proceed with loading.
Chilled and frozen products should not be stored together in the same compartment of a refrigerated carrier for longer than 4 hours unless the chilled products are covered with an insulating blanket.
Where possible, make provision for refrigerated vehicles to back up flush against the loading or off-loading doors or passage entrances so that loading or off-loading will take place in a virtually sealed refrigerated area.
Make sure the vehicle’s refrigeration system stays on and the doors remain closed when loading or unloading isn’t happening.
The pharmaceutical industry also has its own set of regulations, which ensure medications and vaccinations are handled and transported in such a way that their integrity and efficacy are maintained.
Key industries that rely on temperature monitoring for frozen goods
Maintaining the right temperature throughout transportation ensures the safety, quality, and longevity of these goods.
Inconsistent temperature control can result in spoilage, loss of potency, or degradation, making reliable monitoring systems indispensable for industries that handle temperature-sensitive products.
Here are some of the key sectors that rely heavily on precise temperature monitoring for frozen goods:
Frozen Food Industry Frozen food products such as vegetables, meats, seafood, and ready-to-eat meals need to be transported at consistently low temperatures to maintain their freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Any temperature fluctuation will lead to the degradation of quality, which is why reliable frozen food delivery is crucial for this industry.
Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Certain pharmaceuticals and vaccines must be kept under strict temperature restrictions to preserve efficacy. Any disruption in temperature control during transportation can render these life-saving products ineffective or unsafe for use.
Pet Food Industry The pet food industry, particularly companies offering raw or organic frozen pet food, requires temperature-controlled transportation to ensure that the products remain safe and nutritious for pets.
How a Temperature Monitoring Systems Benefits Your Business
Temperature monitoring systems are essential tools that not only safeguard product quality but also enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Below, we explore the key benefits of implementing temperature monitoring in your business operations:
Enhances Operational Efficiency Implementing a temperature monitoring system can help streamline operations by automating the tracking of temperature conditions. This reduces the need to do this manually, allowing employees to focus on other important aspects of the business and eliminating human error.
Real-time alerts notify operators of any temperature changes, enabling quick responses to potential issues, which minimises the risk of product spoilage.
Provides Data-Driven Insights for Better Decision-Making Temperature monitoring systems collect valuable data that can be analysed to identify trends and patterns in temperature fluctuations. This data-driven approach allows businesses to make informed decisions regarding inventory management and operational adjustments.
Strengthens Customer Trust with Reliable Deliveries When customers know they can trust a business to deliver products in perfect condition, they gain confidence in the brand. This helps keep customers loyal and strengthens the company’s image.
Why Choose Cartrack’s Temperature Monitoring for Frozen Goods Transport
Cartrack’s system supports up tofour temperature sensorsper vehicle, monitoring between -40°C and +100°C. This ensures that goods are delivered in the anticipated condition, which significantly enhances customer satisfaction and overall efficiency.
Our monitoring system achieves this in the following ways:
GPS tracking: Real-time GPS tracking gives fleet managers complete visibility of vehicle locations, ensuring efficient route planning and security.
Alerts: Fleet managers will get instant notifications in real-time should there be any changes from the set temperatures. This allows drivers to act swiftly by investigating the cause and fixing it before the goods thaw.
Route optimisation: To ensure timely deliveries, our system allows operators to optimise routes. This feature allows drivers to use the fastest routes with less traffic congestion. Managers get notified of any deviations from these routes.
Reports: The system allows fleet operators to keep historical records and reports of these temperature logs to prove compliance with regulatory authorities.
Cargo door sensors: Any unauthorised movement can compromise the quality of the products; cargo door sensors provide an extra layer of security. Managers will be notified when cargo doors open and close, allowing them to investigate and take necessary action.
In conclusion, maintaining the integrity of frozen goods during transportation is important for safeguarding your profitability and brand image. Cartrack’s temperature monitoring system provides a comprehensive solution that ensures compliance, minimises risks, and strengthens customer trust. Contact us today for a customised consultation, specially tailored for you and your fleet.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cartrack’s Temperature Monitoring System:
Q: Can the system track multiple temperature zones within the same vehicle?
Q: Does Cartrack’s system detect if the refrigeration is turned off or malfunctioning?
A: Yes, the system is designed to detect if the refrigeration unit is turned off or malfunctioning. The system will send alerts to fleet managers immediately, allowing them to take corrective action to prevent damage to the products.
Q: Is Cartrack’s temperature monitoring system suitable for small businesses or just large fleets?
A: The system is suitable for both small and large fleets. Whether you are managing one vehicle or a large fleet, the system is fully customisable to meet your specific needs, providing the same level of real-time monitoring and reporting.
Explore ways to keep your frozen goods fresh during transportation with Cartrack’s temperature monitoring system.
