It’s no surprise that it costs much more to ship by air, as opposed to by sea. The one main advantage of air freight, of course, is time. Air freight can allow shipments to cross from one side of the country to the other in a few hours. But many shippers are finding that airfreight has become very unreliable when it comes to protecting their temperature-controlled shipments.
Airfreight Taking Its Toll On Pharmaceutical Shipments
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently released a report indicating just how much airfreight shipping methods are detrimental to the pharmaceutical industry. The report found that the pharmaceutical sector writes off $35 billion annually because of airfreight temperature excursions. Nearly a third of these losses can be attributed to logistics issues.
A quarter of vaccines can no longer be used upon reaching their destinations because they have degraded during transit. A broken cold chain is responsible for damaging a fifth of the products that are temperature-sensitive. Researchers called these losses disastrous for the pharma industry, an industry known to focus on quality and safety.
The report explicitly labeled airfreight shipping methods to blame, mainly thanks to a lack of
• Compliance
• Accountability
• Standardization
• Transparency
If the losses were not enough, pharmaceutical companies who choose airfreight might see their prices go up even further. Potential federal intervention is on the horizon if these companies do not improve their carbon footprint. The cost of regulation could impact shipping costs directly. If they haven’t yet already, companies will likely soon discover that ocean freight requires significantly less CO2 than airfreight, therefore producing fewer carbon emissions.
The Future Of Shipments
The need for the airfreight industry to solve their temperature excursion problem is essential. The study predicted that the global sales of drugs requiring cold-chain shipping methods would exceed $396 billion by 2021. At this time, the biopharmaceutical market will exceed $1.47 trillion globally. For reference, the global pharmaceutical logistics market this past year was approximately $80 billion.
Furthermore, the demand for insulin is on the rise. The IATA indicated that the global growth rate of insulin was roughly 6% per year, although it is growing at a much faster rate in emerging markets. China should see a considerable number of insulin imports over the coming years.
Take Measures To Safeguard Your Shipments
If you are shipping by air, you should consider using SureTemp Insulated Thermal Pallet Covers, an affordable way to minimize temperature excursions. The pallet covers can insulate warmth during the winter or when traveling by air. Temperatures can be frigid in the cargo bay of an airplane, especially when flying at night. The pallet covers also feature a foil layer that reflects sunlight, helping to protect your product when it is offloaded from a plane.
The pallet covers have been proven to block radiation, convection, and conduction. They are a sustainable and durable solution to your shipping needs. The best part is that they are reusable, guaranteed to last at least a decade.
