What Is Temperature-Controlled Shipping?

dry ice background, closeup view

In summer or winter, refrigerated shipping helps perishables reach their destination.

You have a load that you need to transport from your location to another; it could be a store, a laboratory, a medical center, a restaurant, etc. Even though it is winter, you know the product won’t survive unless it remains colder than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Or, if it is summer, you know the goods will spoil in the heat. Regular truck beds can get very hot, especially in summer, but temperature-controlled shipping is the solution to keep your perishables intact. 

What Is Temperature-Controlled Shipping?

Temperature-controlled shipping is simply refrigerated shipping for perishable products like laboratory specimens and some food items. It requires a cold chain to ship cool cargo. A cold chain is a supply chain that specializes in shipping perishable items (a.k.a. cool cargo.) It uses coolants and insulating packaging to preserve the goods.

What Needs Temperature-Controlled Shipping?

A brief list of commercial items that need temperature-controlled shipping is:

  • Dairy
  • Seafood
  • Raw food
  • Fresh produce
  • Frozen foods
  • Beverages
  • Medicine
  • Laboratory specimens

Heat can damage items that do not need refrigeration, too, so other industries can also take advantage of temperature-controlled shipping. These fields ship products like electronics, plants, flowers, perfumes, furniture, musical instruments, and more. Refrigerated trucks can adjust their temperature to suit your needs. 

How Refrigerated Shipping Works

As mentioned above, cold shipping uses various coolants and insulating packaging to be successful. Common coolants include gel packs, cool packs, dry ice, and liquid nitrogen. The right kind will depend on how cold you need your products to be, liquid nitrogen being best for below-freezing items. 

As for insulating packaging, you have multiple options:

  • Cardboard
  • Ice packs
  • Polyurethane
  • Aluminized foam
  • Portable cold room
  • Dry shipper (dewar lined with liquid nitrogen)

Full Truckload Refrigerated Shipping in the Mid-Atlantic

Refrigerated shipping makes it completely possible to ship a large load of commercial perishable items across long distances by land. Full truckload shipping will ensure that your goods make it to their destination as swiftly as possible with minimal stops. 

If you have additional products to ship that do not need refrigerated shipping, you do not have to use a second company. Evan Transportation does both kinds of shipping in the Mid-Atlantic region! Contact us for more information!

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