conditions outside the truck.Usuallytheyare not ableto coolthe loaddown
duringtransport. TheEuropean Agreementon the Transportof Perishables
(ATP)^6 developedtest standards to certifyinsulationmaterials and refrigeration
unitsfor trucks.Improvementsare still regularly beingdeveloped,suchas
improved insulationmaterials that are thinnerand lighterand refrigeration units
thatare more energy efficient.^7 Theperformanceof insulation foamshad
temporarilybeendiminished whenchlorofluorocarbon(CFC)blowing agents
were forbidden. However, the foam industry is continuously developing
improved newfoamswithoutCFCsand withimproved insulationproperties.
Theseimprovements are expected to continue in the comingyears and will bring
the costsfor refrigerated transportdownslightly.
In those casesthat the temperaturein a supplychain wasinsufficiently
managedand the load was subjectedto too hightemperatures,the problemmost
oftendid not arisefrompoorlyrefrigerating vehicles.A few exceptionshave
beenreported in the past,suchas: too densea stacking of palletsin frontof the
chilledair outletand drivers that turnedthe noisyrefrigeration unitsoff for the
nightin orderto havea goodnight'ssleep.The palletstacking is usuallyno
longera problem, as longas the palletsare hollowand thereis sufficienthead
spaceoverthe load(20±30cm is enough)and between the loadand the back
doors. Suchan arrangementwillallowthe chilledair to circulate fromthe
engineat the top front overthe loadto the backdoorsand throughthe hollow
palletsbackto the front.Nowadays,bothproblems hardlyoccur. Thisis partly
due to the hygienecode,educating the loaders and driversand to the increasing
use of dataloggers (time±temperature recorders).Dataloggersare usuallyplaced
in the rear of the vehicle and effectively detect temperatureabuse. The first
datalogsystems couldonlydetectan abusesituation longafterthe transport had
ceased,when the truckwas returned and the dataloggers weredismounted from
the truck and the datawereloadedon the computersystemof the operator.
Moderndatalogsystems alertthe driver of temperatureabusesituations during
transport and somecan evenautomaticallyalert the transport operator'shead-
quarters via cell phonesystems.These modernsystems allowthe driverto act
and avoid the loss of a full cargo due to temperatureabuse.
Temperatureabuseis more likelyto occurat loading and unloadingof
vehicles and wheneverthe supplier of the loaddid not bringthe temperatureof
the loaddownsufficientlypriorto transport. Cooling loads can take much time,
up to a day for carcasses,and hencethereis a clearmotivefor hastysuppliers in
the hecticfoodsupply chainsto dashoff the pre-cooling. Sincerefrigerated
trucksare not designedto coola cargo during transport, the consequence can be
major. In orderto avoid claims,modern transportoperators will measure the
temperature of the loadthemselves priorto loading, or use a modern datalog
system, whichwouldregistertemperatureabusefromthe startof the trip.
Withinthe sector of fruitand vegetabletransport,temperaturecontrol is
currently playingan important role.Traditionally, the fruitand vegetablesector
was divided in two temperature regimes(10±12ÎC and below 7 ÎC).Since
retailers and transportoperatorsare forcedto reducecosts,thereis a tendencyto
Improvinghygienein foodtransportation 401