---
id: KB-AL-021
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/food-and-beverage/the-cold-chain-between-two-companies
idioma: en
categoria: sector-alimentacion
subcategoria: cadenafrio
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-AL-019, KB-LG-017]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-020]
---

# 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._

**Responde a:** who is liable for temperature in transit · cold chain break who pays · temperature record at delivery · the lorry arrived above temperature

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.

> [!WARNING]
> 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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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.

## Ejemplos

**A lorry arrives two degrees high, is accepted because the goods look fine, and nothing is recorded.**

- Measures on receipt and records the incident on the note, even while accepting

→ When it recurs there is a history to show instead of an impression.

**A claim arises and the transport temperature record was never requested.**

- Asks for the record on every delivery and files it with the note

→ Which leg it happened on can be stated, instead of blame being shared blindly.

**Out-of-range product arrives and the decision is taken on the bay with the lorry waiting.**

- Writes down beforehand what is accepted, rejected, or accepted under reservation

→ The decision stops depending on who happens to be on the bay that day.

**Temperature is logged inside but not at handover.**

- Records the condition on despatch and on receipt

→ The loading bay stops being no man's land.

**There is a dispute about where the chain broke.**

- Compares the two handover records

→ The dispute closes on data.

**The carrier logs in their system and it never reaches you.**

- Collects and stores what they provide

→ Your own record does not depend on someone else's.