Tag Archive for: refrigerated transport

#DidYouKnow – Main terms in temperature controlled supply chains

For the first article of the #DidYouKnow series in 2019, a focus on temperature controlled supply chains was made. What are the main terms? What is refrigerated transport and why does it need specialized care? What kind of specialized equipment / procedures would be needed for a safe and efficient supply chain?

In this post we will explore some of the main aspects of this type of transport.

1.   Refrigerated Equipment – Sanitary and Condition Inspection

The equipment used to transport food items requires a higher level of inspection and maintenance than conventional aspects. Equipment needs to be clean, sealed and otherwise suitable for the transport of food items. Improper or incomplete cleaning and / or sanitisation practices allow contaminants to spread, and thus merchandise to perish. The responsibility to clean, sanitize and inspect equipment involved in the supply chain applies to all parties involved – shippers, carriers, loaders and receivers. Nevertheless, shippers continue to hold primary responsibility for the sanitary conditions of transport. Generally the different reefer equipment suppliers set the cleaning criteria for all to follow, though occasionally the clients can establish the minimum requirements of cleanliness according to their own quality standards and procedures.

Cleaning and Sanitation Procedures

Cleanliness prevents bacterial, chemical, and odor contamination of food products. Removing all loose debris and washing or sweeping the floors clean are necessary processes in this transport mode.

Certain food products, such as fatty or oily goods including butter and meats, are highly susceptible to strong odor contamination. Fresh fruit, such as apples and bananas, are also susceptible to odor absorption. It is thus better to separate the different food products to avoid cross-contamination. Moreover hauling extremely odorous products such as fish or cabbage require intensive cleaning procedures that will prevent odor contamination of other and future shipments.

Sanitation Standards

Shippers are required to develop and implement procedures that specify their practices for the cleaning, sanitizing and inspecting of their equipment. Factors that need to be considered include:

  • How the vehicle/equipment is being used; and
  • The production stage of the food being transported (raw vs. finished product; open vs. closed package).

2.   Airflow

Proper airflow throughout the refrigerated box is critical in maintaining good quality products. Poor air distribution is one of the primary causes of product deterioration.

When loaded properly, there should be sufficient airflow to maintain cargo temperature throughout the entire cargo space. Physical obstructions or restrictions within the box can cause poor airflow and result in product ‘hot spots,’ contributing to the deterioration of the perishable products.

Stowage inside the reefer container

When consolidating a Reefer container it is important to consider the type of merchandise and packaging used. This helps decide the best consolidation pattern for the cargo based on air circulation requirements around or between the products in the load.

As a general rule, pre-refrigerated frozen cargo only requires airflow around the product, while refrigerated goods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, require airflow throughout the cargo. This is because refrigerated products generate heat from breathing, which must be eliminated to prevent the cargo from being damaged by temperature changes.

It is essential that when stowing a Reefer container the entire floor is covered up to the edge. This ensures a uniform circulation of air around the container. In cases where the cargo does not cover the entire floor, a filler or dunnage is used to cover empty areas. This is also used to cover central panels containing empty spaces between pallets within a consolidated shipment.

Correct stowage is extremely important to the carriage of containerized reefer cargo. It is important to know that this is frequently outside of the control of the carrier. Cargo is often received in a sealed container already pre-loaded with a specific cargo.

3.   Refrigerated transportation

Refrigerated transportation is a method for shipping freight that requires special, temperature controlled vehicles. The vehicles transporting the products being shipped have built-in refrigeration systems that keep products at desired temperatures throughout the transportation process.

The first rudimentary version of refrigerated transportation was born in the 1800s, when cargo transporters would place ice and salt below temperature-sensitive goods in train cars. Unsurprisingly, this process was not the most efficient and inevitably led to major losses in the value of goods.

In the twentieth century more efficient modes of refrigerated transportation were developed, and improvements in technology have given birth to what is now called the cold chain logistics.

Written by Raquel Nunes, Training Programmes & External Relations Manager, Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport

 

Intrigued? What to know more?

Register today for the 2019 edition of the Escola’s Technical course on Temperature Controlled Supply Chains, which will take place between the 6th and 9th of May in Barcelona. Find out more here: https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/temperature-controlled-supply-chains

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The rail industry positions itself within refrigerated transport

There is increasing pressure both from the political sphere and from the shippers themselves to favor rail transport and intermodality, a trend that also has been reflected in refrigerated transport.

Statistical records indicate that the presence of the railroad in the transport of goods in Spain is purely testimonial, both in terms of volumes transported and the modal share.

The National Institute of Statistics calculated that last year private operators and Renfe transported a total of 27,914,502 tons, 5.3% more than in 2016. This number is still far from the record obtained in 2015, when the rail transport of goods in the country reached its maximum historical level, both of which are tiny when compared to the volumes that this mode moves in other European countries.

Specifically, last year, 1,915,972 tons of agricultural and livestock products were transported by rail, 9.1% less than in 2016, as well as 370,172 tons of food products. These numbers are small, but they show an annual growth of 63.7%.

Likewise, the rail transport of food products has grown in Spain by 39% annually in 2016, 19% in 2015 and 3% in 2014.

In 2010, 211,238 tons of foodstuffs were transported and in 2017, as mentioned above, 370,172 tons were reached, showing a significant increase of 75.24%, although the quantities are small and favour spectacular growth.

Similarly, in 2010 the railway moved 1,477,257 tons of agricultural and livestock products, which means that between that year and 2017 there has also been an increase of 29.7%.

Both statistics, despite their small volumes, have their importance, especially when compared with the downward trend of other products and the rail way itself.

To the scarce infrastructure existing in Spain, the low commercial speed of this way is united and a series of circumstances turn this transport mode into one with many complexities, and one dominated by the presence of a hegemonic public railway operator that conditions the operation of an entire sector .

However, in recent years, both politicians and shippers have turned their eyes towards this transport means, in which they have seen more efficiency and, above all, less pollution, despite the significant external costs that comes with it.

Customers have begun to believe that rail transport is suitable for certain goods and certain traffic, which in any case exceeds 500 kilometers, in which they can offer economies of scale equal to or higher than those of road freight transport, but without the flexibility that, in any case, trucks provide.

In any case, the idea exists among politicians and customers, to ensure that road and rail are complementary.

In this context is the recovery of the Silk Road that the Chinese Government is making and with which it intends to create a large railway corridor that connects China with the Iberian Peninsula through the entire European continent and with what is to be achieved. an annual capacity of three million containers, compared to the 500,000 that currently move between China and Europe per year.

Simultaneously some railway companies have begun to operate in some traffic while waiting for the European freight corridors to become a reality and allow an effective intermodality.

Source: Cadena de Suminstro