Eliminating Refrigerated Trucking for Confectionery Products
Profile:
A national retailer with over 250 retail locations, services those locations using two distribution centers located on the east and west coast. Retail stores sell 90% non-perishables and 10% perishable goods.
Retailer has a large private fleet of dry trucks servicing all locations, however perishable products have proven to be vulnerable in the face of high temperatures using this mode of transport. Retailer therefore hires reefer services solely to transport its Confectionery products. During spring /summer as well as year round in warmer states, 10% of products are shipped using reefers.
Reefer trucking has proven to be costly, tedious to administer and disruptive to the shipping protocols.
Proposal
Retailer approached IPC with the desire to eliminate reefer trucking entirely while using solely their fleet of dry trucks to transport retail and temperature sensitive confectionery products together. They also requested that the solution be low cost, easy to use/apply and environmentally friendly.
IPC Recommendation
IPC recommended its high performance CooLiner
Pallet Cover to protect against the inherent elevated temperatures and temperature spikes experienced during transport using dry containers.
CooLiner Pallet Covers, using a proprietary combination of reflective foils and thermoplastics, have been shown to produce extreme temperature differentials when placed over temperature sensitive cargo. This film technology gives the covers unique performance capabilities that make them appropriate for applications such as this.
Testing
After preliminary data indicated positive results, IPC recommended that the retailer conduct an internal study using the CooLiner Pallet Covers to protect its perishable products while shipping to hot climates using their dry trucks. Subsequently, retailer conducted a nationwide trial with several test shipments.
Conclusion & Results
Retailer determined that CooLiner pallet covers provided a 30 degree+ temperature differential between the inside of van and inside the covers. This resulted in protection that was more than adequate and ensured that confectionery goods would arrive in saleable condition. Today, retailer has entirely eliminated use of reefer containers resulting in:
- Large savings in shipping costs- no need to hire reefer trucks.
- Internal improvements in efficiency.
