A crucial strategy when shipping temperature-sensitive products is ensuring there is some safeguard in place to maintain the optimal temperature for those products during the shipping process. Failure to do this can, in the best-case scenarios, mean products arrive with reduced freshness or efficacy. In the worst-case scenarios, however, they may no longer be suitable for sale. Investing in a thermal blanket for food transportation is not only smart but also cost-effective. Here’s why.
Protect Only What You Need To
Traditional active systems, such as reefer units that have refrigerators to lower temperatures, are indiscriminate. The cost paid for reefer units means that the entire area within a cargo container or tractor-trailer is chilled down to the desired temperature, even if a shipment is smaller and only needs a localized area of temperature control. While these solutions work, they mean unnecessary spending for some shipping requirements.
A thermal blanket for food transportation, especially for smaller shipments, maintains the temperature of only the product in question. This means that there’s no need to allocate funds for an entire shipping container. Over a long enough timeline, this yields savings for repeated shipments, as a thermal blanket for food transportation is reusable and can potentially be deployed for years.
Maintaining The Optimal Level
A thermal blanket for food transportation is an insulated layer that may be either wrapped or slid over a food shipment. Thermal blankets are made of specific materials, such as polyethylene, and metallic surfaces, that act in two ways. The first is to trap the air surrounding the shipment and preserve that initial storage temperature. The second is to provide a protective outer layer that resists radiant temperature factors, such as sun exposure, that would normally heat anything left unprotected given enough time.
These multiple layers of temperature control ensure that even without a refrigeration unit, the product will remain within the recommended temperature range for storage. This can be especially important during transitional periods, such as loading and unloading, when items may be necessarily exposed to the elements. Any delays in transfer at this point could have dramatic temperature effects on unprotected shipments. A thermal blanket for food transportation, however, ensures that these products maintain their temperature for hours or even days, depending on the type of temperature control safeguards in place, such as the combination of thermal blankets and cooling gels.
If you’re interested in a thermal blanket for food transportation, we can help. Contact us to explain your shipping needs and obtain a quote.
