Food & Beverage Freight Requirements
The commodity sets the temperature, the temperature sets the equipment, and the receiver sets the window.
Specifications
The Numbers a Food or Beverage Load Is Booked On
The commodity sets the temperature, the temperature sets the equipment, and the receiver sets the window.
| Requirement | The specification |
|---|---|
| Frozen food | 0°F (-18°C) or below. Ice cream, novelties and frozen dough commonly run -10 to -20°F. |
| Fresh meat and poultry | 28 to 32°F. Cold enough to slow bacteria, above the point the product freezes. |
| Dairy, deli and eggs | 34 to 38°F, with shell eggs held at 45°F or below once packed. |
| Most fresh produce | 34 to 38°F on continuous air. Respiring product needs air exchange, not only cold. |
| Chill-sensitive produce | Bananas in the mid 50s, mature-green tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers in the low 50s, avocados in the low 40s. A 34°F trailer injures all of them. |
| Ethylene mismatch | Apples, pears, melons and ripening avocados emit it. Lettuce, leafy greens, broccoli and cucumbers react to it. |
| Beverage and dry grocery | Ambient, with protect-from-freeze service around 35 to 40°F and heat enabled on winter lanes. |
| Trailer precool | Pulled to set point before the doors open, unit off while the dock doors are open. |
| Pulp temperature | Probe into the product on pallets from across the load, readings written on the bill of lading. |
| Sanitary transportation rule | You specify operating temperature and sanitary conditions in writing; bulk vehicles must disclose prior cargo and most recent cleaning on request. |
| Wash-out record | A buyer requirement rather than a federal one: where and when the trailer was washed and what it carried before you. |
| Run mode | Continuous for produce and respiring product. Cycle saves fuel and lets the corners drift. |
| Temperature evidence | The reefer download, plus any recorder placed inside the freight, pulled at delivery while the trailer is still there. |
| Seal | Number recorded on the bill of lading at loading and verified before the doors open at the receiver. |
| Payload | Beverage, canned goods and dry staples hit the 80,000 lb federal gross limit before the trailer fills. |
| Shelf life on arrival | Retail and foodservice DCs specify how much of the code date must remain when the pallets come off. |
| Appointment window | Produce houses and DCs run scheduled doors. A missed window is usually a next-day delivery. |
| Imported food filing | FDA prior notice filed before arrival. A filing problem holds a load that is perfectly cold. |
| USDA cold treatment | Fruit-fly host fruit held at a prescribed pulp temperature for a prescribed number of days, recorded by calibrated probes. |
The equipment
One Set Point Per Box, Unless the Trailer Is Built for Two
A standard 53-foot reefer holds one set point across the whole box, so frozen at 0°F and produce at 34°F do not ride together in it, and a partial only works when the other shipper's set point and run mode match yours. Multi-temp trailers split the space with movable bulkheads and a second evaporator, which buys two or three zones at the cost of pallet positions and a much smaller carrier pool. Insulated walls, the duct floor and the unit itself take both cube and payload, so a reefer carries less weight than a dry van of the same length, which is why dense beverage and shelf-stable grocery go dry van and simply ride clean, dry and sealed. Fuel capacity on the unit is equipment too: a load that will stage at a crossing or sit through a receiver wait has to be able to hold temperature for hours with the doors closed and nobody watching. Refrigerated containers coming off a port are their own case, running on genset power against a free-time clock that starts whether or not your cold storage has a door open.
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Every carrier is vetted for operating authority and insurance, and we check the certificate before every dispatch, not once a year. USDOT 3411782 · MC 1100274