How to temperature map a refrigerated van
BioMap Temperature Mapping Service
As a business whose customers and partners rely on the accuracy of our deliveries, we cannot assume that our temperature-controlled vans will never have problems in their years of service. In order to stay exceeding industry expectations, we enrolled Biomap to help. Check out this blog on Biomap
Biomap is a market leader in temperature mapping and was LF&E’s first choice to provide an auditable assurance to our clients, proving that our client’s consignments are in the safest hands.
The 48 Hour Testing Process
It took 48 hours for every van to be tested but it was crucial that the van was out of commission this long so we could fully map the vehicle; once, empty for 24 hours, and once with a dummy load that replicated real deliveries a driver would have to make in a day.
This work also allowed us to map the effects of a power failure affecting the vehicle, showing us what would happen to our particular loads if power failed for an average of two hours
Schematics of The Vehicle
Biomap took schematics of the full vehicle, narrowing down compartments into smaller sections and tracking every one of them, so they could easily find where, if anywhere, there were slight hot and cold spots throughout the vehicle. As even slight fluctuations in temperature could affect loads, and Biomap was able to detect even 0.3 of a degree out of the agreed temperature, this allowed us to fully recalibrate the vehicle if anything was found.
Multi-Testing Commitment
It’s not just enough to map a refrigerated vehicle once, though. Care must be taken so that the vehicle is not too warm in summer and not too cold in winter. Unfortunately, calibrations that worked in one season may be too extreme for another, and without temperature mapping during opposite seasons in the year customers and partners may be receiving an unfit offering upwards for upwards of six months.
If for example, a flu vaccine is so negatively affected by the temperature that it is no longer as effective within the body, patients in surgeries who are deemed especially at-risk may find themselves getting ill with flu and becoming very badly affected.
Driver Training Essentials
Temperature mapping can also be affected by drivers who have not received proper training. One reason that we never use temporary drivers or even drivers who have completed only a partial amount of training is because there are skills to even stacking and packing a vehicle in a way that does not create hot or cold spots within a temperature-controlled vehicle. Check out this blog on our Trained Driver Process
If the stock is packed too tightly into a van, the refrigeration may not penetrate all the way through to the centre of the load, and friction may result in several items becoming unusable.
4 Essentials To Temperature Mapping Success
Our tips for temperature mapping a refrigerated van are:
- Use a reputable company with industry leader qualifications
- Make sure the temperature mapper is probably calibrated to record temperatures as low as -40 degrees centigrade and as high as +70 degrees centigrade
- Take action if parts of your vehicle fail the test
- Map your vehicle again in an opposite season to be sure it’s insulated the whole year round.
- Check out this blog post from 2016 on temperature mapping
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