Security and efficiency are among the most important factors business owners consider before shipping goods to different locations. Certain products require a high degree of care during handling processes. It’s the same for refrigerated products that require delivery to various destinations — especially distant destinations that require extended travel times.
This blog will take a closer look at how to ship refrigerated products speedily and safely. We’ll explore the conditions you’ll need to satisfy to ensure safe, speedy product delivery.
Factors to Consider When Shipping Refrigerated Products
Transporting goods from one place to another takes effort and proper management. Attention to detail is significant with refrigerated products. Otherwise, you risk the products losing their integrity before arriving at their destination.
Below are the important factors to consider when shipping refrigerated products:
Type of refrigerated product
The product type is important to identify the temperature requirements you’ll need to maintain while transporting the cargo. You’ll want your refrigerated products to arrive at their destination fresh and far from spoiling. Without accounting for temperature requirements, it’s impossible to achieve this aim.
Furthermore, the product type will determine shipping nuances like packing and stacking. We shouldn’t ignore packing while discussing how to ship refrigerated products. Sure, temperature levels can affect product integrity. But if you don’t pack certain products properly, they’ll arrive at their destinations in poor quality. Thi
Packing material
After defining the optimal temperature to keep your cargo fresh, selecting the right packaging material is next. Your choice of packaging material must have the capacity to handle required temperature specifications. Professional refrigerated shipping services will use shipping containers that can effectively cater to the temperature requirements of most refrigerated products.
However, you must consider how you store the products before pick-up by the logistics company. Styrofoam boxes are widely used to store refrigerated products. A Styrofoam box is structured to make it difficult for hot or cold air to penetrate.
Other packaging items may prove valuable in stabilizing your refrigerated product’s integrity. They include:
- Dry ice
- Cold gel packs
- Thermal bubble wrap
- Foam
- Insulating materials.
You may also consider using appliances, such as freezers or refrigerators, especially when shipping out items to farther locations.
Effective transport methods
If you’re transporting only a few refrigerated products and can maintain the temperature level, your vehicle can do the job. However, you should seek out help from a reputable logistics company for larger quantities of perishable goods. You should also exercise caution while choosing your logistics partner. Remember to allocate resources to check and compare various logistic service offerings.
By doing so, you can check which companies use the best methods and tools to transport refrigerated products. Your choice of logistics company should also have a reefer container or trailer.
A reefer trailer is a shipping container or trailer with a built-in refrigeration system. Typically, the refrigeration system in this container maintains temperatures between -40°C and 40°C — thanks to power from a generator. Even if the truck assigned to transport your products gets into problems along the way, the reefer trailer or container keeps running its refrigeration system.
Related Article: What is the Process of LTL Delivery?
Consider your budget
Individuals who do not have budget restrictions can choose any logistics company to handle its shipments effectively. However, there’s a need for small to midsize businesses to consider the budgets allocated for their shipping needs.
The timing and availability of the logistics companies can affect shipping costs. Part of how to ship refrigerated products is understanding the logistics company’s timeline and schedule. This is helpful since logistics companies charge more for their services during their busy periods.
After these busy periods, their fees decrease significantly. These downtimes are the best times for small businesses to schedule the delivery of their perishable items.
Shipment tracking
A crucial part of how to ship refrigerated products is ensuring tracking capabilities for your cargo. With the sensitivity of refrigerated products, tracking is doubly important.
Reputable logistics companies make it easier for their clients by providing various methods to track their shipments. They also provide clients with the contact information for their customer service desks. When online tracking systems fail, you can always get across to the logistics company’s customer service team.
Provide the logistics company with necessary details
Most questions about how to ship refrigerated products revolve around ensuring a smooth transportation process. For the process to happen with the least number of problems, you must provide your chosen logistics company with the necessary product information.
Reefer trailers or containers are known to take 2 hours before attaining their pre-set temperatures. By informing the logistics company of temperature requirements, its truck and trailer will be able to arrive at your location in the condition to store all of your perishable products.
Another info the logistics company needs is the size specification of your refrigerated products. Your logistics partner should know if the trailer size is enough to store all the products you’re shipping out. Failing to inform the logistics company of your products’ exact sizes and weight can lead to possible delays. And delays can lead to additional unplanned fees. The logistics company may need to send out another truck and trailer, which may not be easy without available units.
Ensure a presence at pick-up location and destination
Logistics companies follow tight schedules to transport their client cargo efficiently. Any delays with one of their transactions can have major repercussions to their predetermined delivery schedules. A common cause of shipment delay is clients forgetting to assign people and other resources when the trucks arrive at their locations.
The lack of personnel becomes a big problem when shipping perishable goods. If a truck arrives at the destination and finds out the place is closed or nobody is authorized to receive the shipment, this becomes an issue for both the client and the logistics company.
The delays will lead to payment penalties on the client’s side while also affecting the future delivery schedule of the assigned truck. Individuals and businesses must always be ready to have someone available to release and receive the shipment.
Related Article: How Does Shipping Work on Amazon Sellers?
Partner With A Trusted Logistic Partner
If you’re thinking of shipping out large quantities of perishable items, ensure you can trust the logistics company with your products. You should not only look at the financial costs when shipping out your refrigerated products. Since these items need more care and security during transit, you should consider a logistics company with a reputation for excellent service.
Here at RoadLINX, we use the latest methods and high-quality equipment available in the industry. If you require shipping services for your refrigerated products, call us at 905-760-1141.
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