When it comes to transporting refrigerated freight on the road, there are a lot of risks involved. Managing food safety and refrigerated goods quality is paramount under standards like HACCP ISO22001 and ISO 9001, so if you can’t track the temperature of your freight while in transit then you will be placing your company and your customers at risk.
Using paper forms to track the temperature on the road is not reliable, as it requires drivers to manually check the temperature, which reduces productivity and is prone to incorrect data and inconsistency. For many this may mean on each delivery temperature is only recorded once and most likely on paper.
By having temperature probes that are connected to your transport management system, you can use GPS tracking and real-time technology to automatically check the temperature without ever stopping the vehicle, proving to your supply chain that there’s more value in your service delivery.
HACCP AND ISO 22001
If you are a company operating in the food industry, you are required by law to comply with established hygiene regulations in accordance with HACCP guidelines. As a food company, you must systematically look for critical points that affect the safety of food and beverage products that are handled by the company. All possible risks and associated risk management measures must be described in an HACCP plan.
ISO 22000 has been the standard for food safety since 2005 and is based on HACCP guidelines in accordance with the management principles of ISO 9001. It is a globally accepted standard which forms the basis for an internationally valid ISO food safety certificate and which is aimed at the entire agri-food chain. ISO 22000 applies to primary production companies, to retailers and to supply companies operating in the packaging and detergent industry, amongst others.
Can your current systems keep up with HACCP requirements?
For many refrigerated freight operators they need to be able to fulfil the HACCP food safety requirements, but as it currently stands for most businesses, it is the drivers who are responsible to track the temperature. These types of systems are inefficient as they rely on manual data entry that can easily have mistakes thanks to human error.
If you are unable to maintain the HACCP standards of food safety, your business could be at risk! To be able to maintain these standards you need a reliable system in place that can detect any potential temperature breaches and alert the driver and fleet operators immediately. This is no different than managing the rigours of fatigue, maintenance or mass, where documented records need to be maintained to validate compliance standards are met.
Through fast action, accurate data and reliable evidence transport operators can maintain a front foot in regards to risk management for insurance or customer, saving time and money.
Temperature probes are the most efficient method for tracking temperature
With temperature probes you will have access to live tracking and real-time visibility, where realtime tracking combined with GPS location will allow you to view temperature samples every 20 seconds. Connected temperature probes can automate much of the process surrounding traditional record keeping approaches and remove much of the administrative burden.
For the most part, probes are installed easily within the compartments of the storage units delivering information back into the vehicle GPS systems, which then goes back into the main management system where it can be viewed by fleet operators or customers in real-time.
Keep your freight safe with real-time technology
If a pallet of food is delivered and the temperature is below or above the required standard, the delivery is likely to be rejected. To validate that freight temperatures meet the expectation of the supplier and customer during transit you may need to be able to show a temperature profile at multiple stages during your task within the food safety lifecycle – paddock to plate..
Once again, this is unlikely to happen with paper-based systems. They are just too clunky and require too much manual effort.
Temperature probes will allow you to view the temperature throughout the entire journey, rather than relying on manual data entry. You can automatically check that it is within the required temperature range and set limits to ensure that exceptions are provided, whereas with paper forms you may not find out at all if it hasn’t been measured or recorded correctly.
Using temperature probes to manage temperature sensitive freight will improve the quality of your operations and the value of your service for customers. A live tracking, digital system is far superior to using paper-based processes to track and record temperature and can make all the difference to your reputation as a premium cold delivery transport operator.
As a business, you can drastically reduce your costs because small mistakes may cost businesses a lot of money, particularly when it comes to refrigerated freight, and even more so if the freight is delivered at the wrong temperature.
If you want to comply and exceed delivering under HACCP or ISO standards, temperature probes are the most reliable way to achieve this goal and need to be part of any cold storage or refrigerated transport operators integrated management system. It is a requirement under regulation and a key part of managing food freight under ISO9001, so it just makes sense to make it automated, mobile, and electronic.
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