Whatever you choose to call them, reefer freight transportation or refrigerated freight logistics, they all involve the same activity: refrigerated freight shipping.
There are certain products that, due to their nature or conditions, require special preservation. Some foods, for example, are perishable and may deteriorate if not kept at a specific temperature. Refrigerated transportation services guarantees such preservation.
All these additional processes increase the carrier’s rate and increase your company’s logistics management costs. For that reason, if you are going to hire this type of services, it is convenient that you know what refrigerated or temperature controlled transportation is and how to use it to prepare the shipments correctly.
Here are the most frequently asked questions that our customers ask our customer service department.
What is temperature-controlled transport?
We call temperature-controlled transport to those shipments provided with cold control mechanisms that allow to maintain intact the state of refrigeration of the goods.
Products such as foodstuffs, medicines or laboratory tests require refrigerated logistics to protect their properties throughout the different stages of the supply chain: production, storage and transport.
How does temperature-controlled transport work?
Temperature-controlled transport requires vehicles equipped with an airtight chamber that prevents the cargo from coming into contact with the outside and an air circulation system.
It is also necessary to keep the goods refrigerated during the loading, unloading and storage processes. All these processes must be carried out as quickly as possible, and if possible in designated areas.
The most common is that a refrigerated freight company provides everything necessary to move the cargo without alterations, however, we recommend using special packaging to provide greater protection.
Are the types of shipments classified according to temperature?
Refrigerated shipments are classified according to the environmental requirements of the product they are transporting. In general, the division is as follows:
Cold or refrigerated shipments (2°C and 8°C): for those products that need to be kept at a low temperature, but without reaching a frozen state.
Frozen shipments (-20°C): the mission of this type of shipment is to keep the product in a frozen state until final delivery, normally thanks to cold storage.
Dry ice shipments (-80°C): typical shipment for the transport of biological samples. Since water is not used as a cooling method, humidity does not affect the properties of the sample.
Shipments in liquid nitrogen (-196°C): used for the transport of biological samples or certain hazardous substances that require extreme refrigeration. A special nitrogen tank is required.
What type of packaging should you use?
For refrigerated or temperature-controlled shipments, isothermal packaging is usually used, as it maintains the refrigerated conditions better and protects them from the external ambient temperature.
This type of packaging is usually made to measure with corrugated cardboard and foamed paper, although this may vary depending on the nature of the goods or the means of transport.
Contact us!
Northern Refrigerated Transportation Inc. is a frozen transportation company. We have well-maintained trucks and refrigerated trailers with high storage capacity.
Entering our web portal https://northernrefrigerated.com/ you will be able to know all our services and read the reviews of our clients.
Do you need to move your refrigerated goods? We have the solution. We are located in Turlock, CA and we ship all over the country.