Dairy produce is one of those items that is temperature sensitive and products such as milk, cheese, butter and those made from or containing dairy need careful consideration when it comes to transportation. Dairy is something that is used in so many products in the food industry, but it is an item that is extremely sensitive to temperature and can perish quite easily. Therefore, temperature-controlled logistics will require careful management to retain the integrity and quality of milk-based products.

The dairy supply chain plays a significant role in food processing, and logistics in this industry must be as efficient and streamlined as possible. When milk is expressed from cows, the temperature is typically around 38°c, but this is the danger zone that promotes the growth of bacteria. At this temperature, bacteria would continue to double every 20 minutes. Milk must be quickly chilled to 4°c as quickly as possible. After chilling, the milk is then stored for at the most, 48 hours before the milk is then collected by a tanker. A thermal reading will be taken, and the milk is then transported in a temperature-controlled tank to a processing facility where tests are carried out to make sure that the milk is free of bacteria before it is processed into various dairy products. Milk is then pasteurised, homogenised, packaged and then shipped.

It is at this time when the cold chain and temperature-controlled vehicles come into play because they need to maintain a consistent temperature to ensure that the milk does not fall into the danger zone at any time during the distribution process. The goal of businesses who are responsible for transporting dairy products must make sure that the time it is taken to transport milk or dairy products on the road is kept as low as possible to prolong the shelf life of the milk and deliver maximum freshness and quality for customers. The use of temperature controlled vehicles not only allows the temperature to be maintained to keep the milk at the right temperature, but they also have temperature logging equipment to make sure that dairy products don’t stray into the danger zone.

Temperature controlled transportation will also take into consideration the time that it takes, the distance, the humidity levels within the vehicle, costs, packaging and quality of the vehicle. All of these are important considerations in the cold chain that must be carefully planned.