You May Need Refrigerated Transport Without Realising It
Posted on: 8 December 2022
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Certain goods are easy to transport in any van. They're unlikely to come to harm if they remain stable en route. In other cases, you need to take a specialist approach. You might need refrigerated transport for your goods and services without realising it. Here are some to consider.
Any Perishable Food
Sometimes it's obvious when perishable food requires refrigerated transport. For example, if you try moving meat or fish in a hot van, it's likely to degrade in quality and could become a health and safety risk. However, items such as bread and cakes don't sit in the cold area of a shop, so it's easy to assume they don't need cold transport. Moving such items in a refrigerated van ensures they don't grow stale too quickly. Keeping items cool is crucial if you're expanding your business and want to make large deliveries to other areas. It ensures they arrive in an enjoyable state and keeps your customers happy.
Pharmaceutical Products
Regardless of their form, many pharmaceutical products only remain stable when they're kept at a certain temperature. Sometimes these products are obvious, such as insulin. However, when it comes to more niche substances, it's difficult to know whether they require continuous cooling until you do some research. Not keeping certain pharmaceuticals at a constant temperature can invalidate insurance policies. Depending on your area of practice, you may also need to demonstrate how cold products are at the start and end of their journey in order to meet regulations. If you find that your products require refrigeration, start looking into whether you transport them in an efficient way.
Pathology Samples
Much like pharmaceutical products, pathology samples often need to remain at a stable temperature. Similarly, the sampling agents may require certain temperatures too. For example, the fluids used in PCR and antigen tests. How cold a sample needs to be depends on what it is. If it arrives at a testing facility at the wrong temperature, it may be invalid. Generally, if your samples need to sit in a fridge after being taken, they're likely to require refrigerated transport. If you do use cold transport, ensure you establish a method for recording what temperature the samples are at before they leave your facility and when they arrive at their end destination. Keeping such records demonstrates to regulators that you're taking the right approach to your practice.
If you're ever unsure as to whether you need refrigerated transport, speak to a provider so they can offer guidance.