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Our Cold Chain Transport Guide: How to Handle Perishable Goods

October 7, 2020

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Category: general

Have you thought about how foods, such as fruits and vegetables and beverages, such as bottled or canned soda, get transported from one place to another? The chances are that they need to be delivered from the supplier site to the public market and retail stores. To avoid the goods from getting spoiled or quickly perished along the way, certain types of vehicles provide commercial refrigeration that will protect these goods. This is where cold-chain transport comes into the picture. The cold chain is a process of safely transporting temperature-sensitive goods in a chain of supply. Understand that perishable products being transported most likely require robust management. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the products are moved from one place to another under the right temperature and ideal setting in a refrigerated vehicle. In this article, we’ll share our practical guide on how to handle perishable goods through cold chain transport:

1. Store mixed products properly

Ideally, various types of products must not be mixed together. However, it isn’t always possible, particularly if multiple goods ought to be transported in a chain of supply. For this reason, certain guidelines need to be strictly followed.  One way is to put new products into a ‘settling in” space when placed in refrigerated transport, which allows the temperature to stabilise without compromising nearby products. There must also be insulated partitions that set newly settled goods apart from already refrigerated ones. This is solely an example of how you must store and sort your mixed products properly.

2. Mitigate the risk of heat transfer

As you may or may not be aware of, heat is the major culprit in quickly causing goods to expire or perish. It’s a primary consideration in your cold chain transport as you don’t want your products to be spoiled by heat. The good news is that there are various ways to reduce the risk of heat transfer in a refrigerated transport setting. The first step is to understand the following details:
  • Convection: It refers to a warmer product that heats the surrounding air, thereby affecting nearby products.
  • Conduction: It refers to a direct contact of one container to another where heat is transferred.
  • Radiation: It refers to a product that radiates heat onto nearby products.
By knowing these three processes, you’ll learn how to manage your cold chain transport and mitigate the risks of heat transfer, especially if you are delivering mixed products in a refrigerated courier.

3. Promptly act on potential cold chain breaks

No matter how robust your cold chain management is, it’s inevitable for breaks in the process to occur. The chances are that some chocolate bars get melted in a particular area of your refrigerated vehicle, or some fresh flowers start to wither.  When confronted with these situations, the best remedy is to act quickly. Be sure to call the business owner, inform the nature of the issue, and specify what rules may have been violated. That way, proper measures will be quickly set in place, and processes will be immediately corrected. 

Conclusion

At this point, you now have a better idea of how to boost your cold chain transport. All it takes is to store mixed products properly, mitigate the risk of heat transfer, and promptly act on potential cold chain breaks. By doing these, you’ll expect your perishable products to be safely delivered without compromising their overall quality and lifespan! Are you looking to transport perishable goods? You’ve come to the right place! We’re specialised in long-term and short-term refrigerated van rental in Sydney, Australia. For the best-value refrigerated transport hire or rental solutions for your perishables, get a free quote now!
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