Heavy Duty Trucking, April 2019

TRAILERS BODIES Maintaining clean trailers is critical to prevent cross contamination of food in transit and the interior of reefers must keep temperatures at proper levels to prevent bacterial growth that contaminates food PHOTO GREAT DANE the trailer before loading then the shipper should document that and the carrier should obtain copies of that record or validate it on its own Cool it A key aspect of compliance for carriers is being able to demonstrate that its refrigerated vehicles have been satisfactorily pre cooled according to Orbcomm Carriers are also responsible for providing temperature records upon request to demonstrate appropriate temperature ranges were maintained during transportation You want to make sure that the trailer itself along with the air within it is at a certain temperature before loading Travelers Sellars says If youre loading cold products into a warm trailer you can change the dynamics very quickly as the refrigeration system may not be able to maintain appropriate temperatures That can vary depending on the type of trailer its insulation characteristics including at doors and the temperatures that will need to be controlled during transit As crucial as it is to keep temperature at the proper level to prevent bacterial growth that contaminates food the rule does not require carriers to provide real time temperature monitoring However Sellars say many leading carriers are using such technology Some of the more sophisticated shippers will use telemetry to monitor temperatures in transit That way a sensor can send an alert to the driver or a main office as soon as the temperature approaches an unsafe level and action can be taken immediately to reroute that truck or otherwise fix the issue Penske suggests that fleets can use transportation management systems and GPS monitoring to help pinpoint the exact location of a load if a shipper needs to halt the delivery Radio frequency identification RFID technology on pallets also can ensure quick and easy traceability in the event of a food safety crisis Specific cold compliance guidelines offered by Orbcomm include Put in place a system to monitor and control cargo area temperature during transit Develop processes to communicate temperature profiles gathered en route to both the shipper and receiver Create and maintain a repository of temperature profiles for past loads Limit exposure of temperature sensitive cargo to non controlled areas and Figure out how to deal with temperature violations that can occur during transportation as well as when loading and unloading product Teach it Obviously making sure reefer equipment is clean and operating correctly at the start of a trip and stays that way throughout is a responsibility that falls on the truck driver too Sellars recommends that driver training reflect that reality Drivers will have their traditional orientation that relates to collision avoidance and defensive driving But they also need training that is specific to safe food handling and sanitary transportation The new rule requires documentation of that training A summary of the rule prepared by the law firm Covington Burling LLP is crystal clear on the importance of training The final rule imposes specific training obligations on carriers engaged in transportation operations because carriers would generally not be subject to the training provisions in other human and animal food safety regulations the carrier must provide adequate training to its personnel about potential food safety problems that might occur during transportation and basic practices to address those problems HDT APRIL 2019 68 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM The International Newsletter of Commercial Vehicle Manufacturing DevelopmentsTruck Bus BuilderEst 1978www truckandbusbuilder comAccurate and unbiased coverage of key developments in the world commercial vehicle manufacturing industry Register here for a 3 month trial subscription