Carriers
A carrier entrusted with hauling a fresh produce load is often in a difficult position. It is not unusual for them to contract for transportation services that require them to use safe and sanitary practices, but they are not given written specifications detailing the buyer's requirements.
Adding to the uncertainty, shippers have differing sanitation standards. Without a clear buyer specification or company protocol to get a trailer washout, drivers make trailer sanitation decisions. Some drivers understand the risks to food transported in unsanitary conditions and will seek out quality, professional trailer cleaning services. Others will clean if the trailer is ‘dirty enough’.
But anyone who has transported fresh produce loads knows that buyers and their shippers will look to the truck to pay for any and all costs associated with a rejected load.
Compare the expense of a rejected load and its associated costs to the price of a documented trailer sanitation service (not a typical washout), and it is easy to see that choosing a professional service will limit exposure to serious financial, legal, and relational risks.
The Costs Explained
Financial Costs
Post-delivery-rejected product
-
Immediate cost of lost/damaged product
-
Salvage, additional product handling, and driver expenses
-
Associated losses associated with contract breaches
Pre-delivery- trailer rejected at shipping facility
-
Additional washouts needed for dirty trailers
-
Delays in getting loaded and/or delivery leads to fines
Legal Consequences
-
FSMA Sanitary Transportation Rule requires legal responsibility for
-
Supplying clean and sanitary equipment
-
Identifying a supervisory person for compliance purposes under the rule
-
Implementing proper procedures for the prevention of cross-contamination
-
Following any and all buyer/shipper written, communicated specifications
-
Providing proper training in safe transportation practices
-
Maintaining records to demonstrate training and protocol compliance
-
Relational Costs
Unsupported trailer santiaion/lack of compliance (caused by dispatchers, load planners etc.) results in all stakeholders decision to avoid using this carrier.
