Air freight is an excellent option for shipping cold products such as perishable food and pharmaceuticals. With a comprehensive guide to cold chain shipping by air, you can streamline your processes, boost efficiency and protect your products from fluctuating temperatures. Solutions such as innovative ice packs, real-time temperature monitoring and streamlined digital documentation can significantly augment your cold chain shipping strategy.
Advantages of Cold Chain Shipping by Air
Air freight offers the following advantages for cold chain shipping:
- Speed: Shipping by air is the fastest method, reducing transit times for perishable goods. This speed helps products reach destinations rapidly, minimizing shipments’ time in transit and reducing the window of opportunity for spoilage. You can significantly decrease waste by preventing spoilage and degradation.
- Predictability: Airlines typically maintain strict, reliable schedules, which helps your company meet tight deadlines.
- Global reach: Shipping items by air eliminates topographical and geographical barriers, helping organizations expand their reach to landlocked or remote areas. For example, Moderna and Pfizer relied on air transport to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally.
- Greater security: Airports follow strict security measures, which help protect sensitive or high-value cargo.
- Less handling: Air freight usually involves less handling, which helps maintain the integrity of temperature-sensitive items and reduces the risk of spoilage or damage. Less handling also lowers the risk of theft or tampering.
- Improved inventory management: The speed and predictability of shipping by air enables you to implement a “just-in-time” inventory model. This model reduces or eliminates the need to keep large stockpiles in your warehouse, offsetting storage costs.
- Flexibility: Air shipping is typically more flexible than road, sea or rail freight, allowing you to make changes and additions with ease.
- Versatility for diverse cargo: You can schedule shipments of various sizes with air cargo providers. From oversized cargo to small parcels, air freight is a versatile option if you have diverse logistical needs.
Potential Challenges of Cold Chain Shipping by Air
Understanding the challenges of cold chain shipping by air can help you streamline your operations and protect your cargo. It’s important to account for these potential challenges so each shipment reaches its destination in top condition:
- Temperature fluctuations: Temperatures change significantly during flight, especially during takeoff and landing. These temperature shifts can alter ambient, room and package temperatures, but innovative solutions can help keep products at a steady temperature.
- Unexpected weather conditions: Air shipments are susceptible to sudden changes in weather, which can further strain temperature control systems.
- Equipment malfunctions: Specialized temperature control equipment can malfunction, resulting in changes to the room temperature in cargo areas.
- Transfers: Loading, unloading and moving cargo between transport modes present points of exposure. The longer the packages are outside temperature-controlled areas, the more vulnerable they are to temperature fluctuations.
- Human error: Human errors, such as incorrect equipment settings or poor handling, can compromise your cold chain shipments and increase the chance of spoilage.
- Higher costs: Shipping by air is typically more expensive than shipping by rail, sea or road. However, implementing efficient processes can help you offset the higher costs.
- Regulatory compliance: You must adhere to strict international regulations when shipping by air, maintaining detailed documentation for temperature-sensitive products.
Tips for Efficient Cold Chain Shipping by Air
The following tips can help you combat the challenges of cold chain shipping by air and protect your goods en route:
Maintain Precise Temperatures With Innovative Gel Packs for Shipping
Reliable ice packs help offset the unpredictable ambient and room temperatures on aircraft, enabling you to maintain safe package temperatures despite varying environmental conditions. Modern cold gel packs offer a safer, more eco-friendly temperature management solution to traditional dry ice. Packing your goods with gel packs provides the following advantages:
- Accurate, long-lasting temperature control: When used correctly, gel packs offer precise temperature control. Choose gel packs that match your product’s temperature requirements, and arrange the packs in each package’s most temperature-sensitive areas for consistent temperature management. Gel packs thaw slowly, maintaining cold or freezing temperatures for extensive periods.
- Non-toxic formulas: Modern gel packs may feature organic external materials and non-toxic water-based gel interiors. This non-toxic composition makes them safer to handle than dry ice and protects sensitive consumable goods from contamination.
- Easy disposal: A gel pack’s organic, non-toxic composition also makes it drain-safe, compostable and biodegradable. End users can pour the gel directly down the drain or dispose of it in the trash.
- Opportunities for upcycling: Certain gel pack formulas can double as plant fertilizer, allowing end users to upcycle their gel packs as plant food.
- Leak protection: Durable, puncture-resistant exterior materials help prevent leaks. You can also find gel packs with a specialized dough-like gel for maximum leak protection.
- Space efficiency: You can also opt for foam bricks, which retain their shapes throughout the freeze-thaw process for tight pack-outs.
- Moisture protection: Certain gel packs feature sweat-proof exteriors, protecting goods from moisture damage.
- Efficiency and cost savings: Precise temperature control helps prevent spoilage so you can avoid product loss and save money.
- Safe air shipping: Dry ice is restricted in aircraft because it generates CO2 in an enclosed environment, which can lead to asphyxiation. Cryo Ice™ gel packs meet transportation safety standards, serving as an excellent dry ice alternative without restrictions. Using gel packs can help you avoid the special fees associated with shipping with dry ice.
Implement Real-Time Temperature Monitoring
Use wireless sensors and temperature data loggers to monitor the temperature of each pallet or carton. You can also place single-use devices in packages. Opt for sensors and software that enable real-time tracking so you can receive alerts if a pallet exceeds its safe temperature zone.
Familiarize Your Team With Industry Regulations
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) sets global regulations and standards for proper packaging, labeling, handling and tracking of temperature-sensitive goods. The IATA’s Perishable Cargo Regulations (PCR) and Temperature Control Regulations (TCR) manuals are comprehensive guides that cover local and international regulations regarding these factors:
- Temperature control methods and procedures
- Temperature tracing and tracking
- Quality management systems
- Written procedures
- Hazard analysis
- Packaging technology
- Personnel training
- Applicable shipping standards for specific locations
IATA also offers training, tools and certification to help companies and logistics professionals meet these standards. You can obtain the IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Fresh or CEIV Pharma certification to ensure your company meets strict regulatory requirements for cold chain air shipping.
Streamline Your Documentation Processes
Use a single digital platform for your cold chain shipping documentation and automate data extraction with AI-powered technology. Digital automation makes it easier to streamline your processes and ensure your logistics team meets each airline’s requirements and international regulations. You can store and access documents such as the following in one easy-to-use platform:
- Customs declarations
- Air waybills (AWBs)
- Bills of lading (BOL)
- Commercial invoices
- Packing lists
- Certificates of origin
- Dangerous goods declarations
- Production or phytosanitary certificates
- Temperature monitoring records
You can also conduct regular internal and external audits to verify accuracy.
Maintain Precise Temperatures in Air Freight With Innovative Gel Packs
Reliable gel packs can transform your cold chain shipping temperature management. Cold gel packs offer a safe, effective and sustainable alternative to dry ice, helping you protect your products and reduce your environmental impact. Pelton Shepherd Industries offers cutting-edge gel packs formulated for long-term temperature control and eco-friendly disposal.
Our solutions augment cold chain shipping with greater durability, dependable temperature management and safer handling. Contact Pelton Shepherd Industries to learn more about our innovative gel packs and how they can support your air shipping operations.