There are thousands upon thousands of food-grade carriers on the roads. How do you know which ones you can trust? Whether you the brains behind creating a food or beverage product or a 3PL, some measures should be in place to guarantee safe, quality food shipping. At Taylor, we have a developed process that ensures we choose the most suitable carriers every time. Sure, sometimes things don’t go according to plan but using a trusted food grade carrier helps minimize potential fallout. We examine critical things to look for in a food warehousing provider in our previous blog post. In this post, let’s look at things outside of the warehouse, onto the loading dock, and into the trailer as we examine items you should be looking for in a food-grade carrier.
Compliance
Carrier authority is the permission carriers need to operate. Authority is given out by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and there are several different types of authority out there. A food-grade carrier should have Motor Carrier of Property authority. Carriers can acquire safety through the FMCSA SAFER system. This system provides necessary information about the carrier and, more importantly, a safety rating. Make sure to stay away from “Conditional” and “Unsatisfactory” ratings.
Temperature Preservation
Your products’ safety and integrity are also closely tied to their environmental conditions, temperature, and humidity. A carrier will need to ensure that your products are kept at the appropriate conditions while on the dock and during temperature-controlled trucking. Here’s a great example, ice cream needs to be kept at -20°F and most confectionery products at 65°F. Exceptional care needs to be taken to keep each product in range. Once in the product is loaded on the trailer, your carrier must have the ability to monitor temperature during the journey.
Carrier History
New carriers are always popping up, and plenty of times, it can be very beneficial to use them for shipping. However, if you are looking for someone to bring onto a contracted lane or a critical shipment, it helps look into their past. From simply confirming how long they have been in business to looking through online reviews.
To Sum It Up
At Taylor, we combine warehousing, eCommerce, transportation, packaging, and kitting services for a fully integrated food logistics strategy. These solutions – combined with our technology and ability to scale as your business scales in the food, beverage, confectionery, flavoring, and pet food spaces – gives you the peace of mind that your products are in good hands as they travel throughout the supply chain to your customers. Sound like a plan? Give our team a shout by filling out the form below or send a message to our inbox at info@taylorlog.com. Need a quote asap? Get one here.
