The best approach to managing food logistics intertwines freight visibility with existing logistics processes, bolstered by technology.
Increased shipment-level visibility keeps perishable items safe and boosts compliance with applicable regulations, effectively reducing the risk of spoilage. However, spoilage remains a major contributor of added food freight costs. Food shippers and logistics service providers (LSPs) need to understand the causes of spoilage and how monitoring inbound operations can avoid risks.
A few food logistics tips to improve both safety and compliance without additional stress and extreme costs.
Common Causes of Spoilage of Perishable Items
Proper Monitoring Reduces Risk
Since spoilage is a direct result of improper monitoring of food while in transit or during delivery, it stands to reason that improved monitoring will lower risk. As explained by Food Logistics:
Additional Food Logistics Tips That Build Compliance and Safety for Your Customer
- Increase transparency of food logistics to your customers.
- Track food from origin through retailer or destination.
- Leverage technology to automatically capture food shipment data.
- Reduce the time spent waiting on the dock or traffic with optimized shipping.
- Automatically report deviations, as well as interventions, to isolate affected shipments.
- Stay informed of changes in the supply chain with deviation notifications.
- Use analytics to recognize when risks grow and the likelihood of coming to fruition.
- Work with experts in the field of freight technology with use cases that show prowess in managing food logistics for individual shippers and established logistics service providers (LSPs), such as MercuryGate.
Eliminate Risk of Spoilage With End-to-End, Automated TMS Capabilities
Food shippers do not want to think about the risk of spoilage, but the facts are simple. Unchecked spoilage will cause a safety hazard. These safety hazards can lead to the spread of foodborne illness, potentially costing lives.
In addition to the blowback from consumers following a foodborne illness outbreak, the FDA may leverage fines and penalties against an organization, and costs will spiral out of control. Instead of risking the success of your business, take the time to apply the food logistics tips that will enable compliance and boost safety for your customers, your business partners, and your bottom line.
