Hauling Food? Handle With Care

Q: I manage a fleet with a bakery for a client. A hotel we deliver to asked if our trucking operation was “HACCP-compliant.” I’ve since learned that HACCP is a standard for handling food, and we’ve been told that we have to comply if we want to keep the contract. What can you tell me about HACCP?

HACCP, as you probably now know, stands for Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point-a set of international guidelines designed to ensure that what we eat is safe from food-borne pathogens that can make us sick.

A lot of companies in the food business-from producers to slaughterhouses to restaurants-are trying to adhere to HACCP principles. The intent is to reduce temperature abuse and contamination that can happen throughout the food-preparation chain-“from gate to plate,” as the saying goes.

The food industry also hopes that HACCP will establish safety practices before government steps in and forces the issue through regulation.

One area where food companies and their customers feel vulnerable to a loss of control over HACCP compliance is when the food is in transit or being loaded or unloaded into a truck. There’s concern that the food may become contaminated at the loading dock or on board the vehicle, creating a potential health issue. Furthermore, poor food-safety practices also create the potential for hang-ups during food inspections at international borders.

That’s why some shippers are starting to ask carriers about what they’re doing to ensure the integrity and safety of the food they haul.

Some hospitals and hotels are beginning to structure their food-supply bids to include verification of food safety programs, as well as loading, transportation, temperature standards, maintenance of equipment, and record keeping in order to reduce potential hazards.

The issue of food safety can be a springboard for discussions with customers and their receivers about your responsibilities as a carrier for loading, sorting, and palletizing freight-and their obligations for supporting you, be it with training, equipment, reduced waiting times, or further compensation.

If you want to help your customers devise a strategy for ensuring the safety of the food you haul, there are two obvious places to look for trouble. If you want to show that you’re on top of the issue, here are some questions you should be prepared to address.

1. The dock. What steps do you take to ensure safe food temperature? Is the food product loaded under conditions that prevent temperature abuse? Is the load configured for balanced temperature distribution? Does load stacking consider cross-contamination-e.g., do you put the windshield-washer fluid on the same skid as the crates of oranges?

2. The vehicle. Does the truck reefer unit system provide single or dual-temp performance, and are there separate compartments for refrigerated and frozen freight? Can the proper temperature be maintained during short and long hauls? Is in-cab load temperature verification available? Is full-time temperature recording available for downloading at the load destination? How is a road emergency handled?

You can see that many factors can contribute to the safe transportation of food. It’s essential to be able to demonstrate that you exercise due care.

If you can’t, you’re asking for load refusals, load recalls, and unhappy clients. Talk to your customers about safe food programs and take action now-before legislation compels you.