Food and beverage
The cold chain between two companies
Temperature is well controlled inside each company. Where it breaks is on the loading bay, which belongs to nobody.
Inside your chamber there are records. Inside the lorry there are records. And between the two there are fifteen minutes on a loading bay where the product belongs to nobody — which is exactly where the cold chain breaks and where, afterwards, nobody can prove anything.
The three moments, and who answers in each
| Moment | Whose it is | What usually fails |
|---|---|---|
| Before loading | The consignor's | Product already off temperature gets loaded |
| **In transit** | **The carrier's** | **The record exists but nobody asks for it** |
| At unloading | Decided right there | The note is signed without measuring anything |
| Afterwards | The consignee's | Where the problem came from can no longer be known |
Important
**Signing the delivery note without checking the temperature is accepting the goods as they arrived.** It is the most routine gesture on the bay and the one that decides who carries the problem: after that signature, showing the product arrived out of range is nearly impossible. Measuring on receipt and noting it on the note takes a minute and completely changes next week's conversation.
What to ask for and keep
- 1
The transport temperature record
It nearly always exists. Ask for it, because unasked nobody hands it over.
- 2
Your own measurement on receipt, recorded
On the note, with the time, and signed by both where possible.
- 3
What to do if it arrives out of range, decided beforehand
Accept, reject, or accept under reservation. Not improvised on the bay.
- 4
And your measuring equipment verified
An uncalibrated thermometer turns your evidence into theirs.
Watch out
The dispute that most often ends badly is the minor incident: **product arrives two degrees high, is accepted «because it looks fine» and nothing is recorded**. If a claim follows weeks later, the incident does not exist — and without it, the history says every delivery from that supplier was fine. Recording a minor incident is not picking a fight: it is the only thing that lets a pattern be seen when it repeats.
Worth knowing
Which temperatures each product requires, how transport must be documented and how liability is split between consignor, carrier and consignee depends on the product and what was agreed. **Your adviser or quality manager settles that, and it belongs in the transport contract**; here we explain where the evidence is lost in practice.
›Can I reject a delivery over temperature?
It depends what was agreed. Decide it before the lorry arrives.
›Is the lorry's display good enough?
It is a data point, not evidence. Measure yourself and record it.
›What if I accept and a problem follows?
Which is why accepting under recorded reservation beats simply signing.
A real case
The situation
A lorry arrives two degrees high, is accepted because the goods look fine, and nothing is recorded.
What you do
- Measures on receipt and records the incident on the note, even while accepting
What you get
When it recurs there is a history to show instead of an impression.
The situation
A claim arises and the transport temperature record was never requested.
What you do
- Asks for the record on every delivery and files it with the note
What you get
Which leg it happened on can be stated, instead of blame being shared blindly.
The situation
Out-of-range product arrives and the decision is taken on the bay with the lorry waiting.
What you do
- Writes down beforehand what is accepted, rejected, or accepted under reservation
What you get
The decision stops depending on who happens to be on the bay that day.
The situation
Temperature is logged inside but not at handover.
What you do
- Records the condition on despatch and on receipt
What you get
The loading bay stops being no man's land.
The situation
There is a dispute about where the chain broke.
What you do
- Compares the two handover records
What you get
The dispute closes on data.
The situation
The carrier logs in their system and it never reaches you.
What you do
- Collects and stores what they provide
What you get
Your own record does not depend on someone else's.
This article answers
- who is liable for temperature in transit
- cold chain break who pays
- temperature record at delivery
- the lorry arrived above temperature