Food shippers can move beyond basic compliance by using data and operational expertise in three key ways: challenging assumptions about inevitable claims through deeper analysis, designing proactive operations that prevent exceptions before they occur, and implementing continuous improvement processes that uncover hidden efficiencies and cost savings across the supply chain.
- Challenge assumptions: Data analysis revealed that small temperature fluctuations were causing product freezing, leading to a simple adjustment that reduced claims to zero and increased receiver acceptance to 100%.
- Shift from visibility to control: Analyzing weather patterns and historical disruptions allows shippers to develop contingency plans like deploying heated trailers and staging locations before problems occur.
- Continuous improvement yields savings: A specialty grocer saved over $100,000 annually by automating trailer pre-cooling and optimizing fuel usage while maintaining product integrity.
- Cross-functional expertise matters: Collaboration between shippers, equipment manufacturers and retailers uncovers opportunities that technology and data alone cannot identify.
- FSMA 204 compliance: Upcoming regulations enhance recordkeeping and traceability, providing shippers with comprehensive supply chain documentation to drive both compliance and operational improvements.
Food safety concerns highlighted during the summer continue to underscore the high standards required to protect product integrity throughout the refrigerated food supply chain. At the same time, food and beverage shippers face increasing complexity. Seasonal demand fluctuations, tightening capacity and customer expectations are evolving.
There’s little to no room for error when shipping food and beverage products, as even the smallest mistake can lead to contamination or spoilage, often resulting in costly claims. Cold chain claims result in more food waste, push prices higher and increase reputational risks. And even when product integrity is protected, shippers can do more to find efficiencies that lower costs.
What’s not missing is data: food shippers have more information than ever at their fingertips with advancing technology, increased tracking and more food traceability systems. Additionally, the upcoming FSMA 204 regulation enhances recordkeeping and traceability. Every moment of the supply chain journey is documented and catalogued.
Data is being used to ensure compliance metrics are met and claims are avoided. Where the greater opportunity lies is looking at that data not just for compliance but also inspecting it for improvement.
Expertise is increasingly valuable in not just managing the complexities of shipping but also making the most effective use of this data. Today, strategic food and beverage shippers are placing even greater emphasis on data, processes and collaboration with experts who can help prevent losses before they occur, creating a competitive advantage.
Here are three ways shippers can use data and operational expertise to move beyond just managing compliance.
Don’t accept claims as inevitable
While some claims will happen, it can be advantageous to challenge the assumption that recurring losses are simply part of doing business. This curiosity needs to happen throughout the whole journey, and not just at the point of friction. For instance, on a recent route in the Midwest, the receiver was consistently flagging that a specific product wasn’t arriving at the correct temperature. However, a deeper analysis of shipment data revealed that normal allowable temperature fluctuations during transit were occasionally causing the product to freeze. The trailer had been set to the temperature required at delivery. Small fluctuations of just a few degrees created enough variation to damage the product. By adjusting the operating temperature strategy, the shipper reduced claims and increased receiver acceptance to 100%. This example demonstrates that asking why loss is happening rather than simply accepting the status quo can help reduce claims. Data-driven arguments help produce informed, confident decision making, reducing risks and losses.
The same principle applies to loading practices. One retailer experienced recurring claims involving tipped pallets and product spilling from bread trays. Rather than accepting the losses, a specialized load engineer assessed the loading process and evaluated trailer dynamics. The analysis revealed that vulnerable product was positioned directly over the rear axles, where vibration and movement were greatest. The load engineer recommended a new location for the product while still maintaining cube efficiency. This simple solution decreased claims for the issue to zero.
Neither solution required a significant capital investment. Both required curiosity, operational expertise and a willingness to use data to challenge assumptions.
Moving from visibility to control
Continuous monitoring and tracking visibility are foundational capabilities in refrigerated shipping. However, designing an operation that prevents the exception from occurring in the first place is far more impactful. This distinction becomes especially important during severe weather events. Traditional refrigerated transportation is designed to keep products cold. Winter conditions create the opposite challenge, placing temperature-sensitive products at risk of freezing during transit or while waiting at distribution facilities.
By analyzing weather patterns, historical disruptions and lane-specific risks, shippers can develop contingency plans before problems occur.
For one major grocery retailer, these insights informed decisions such as deploying heated trailers alongside refrigerated equipment, identifying locations where trailers could be staged and determining when loads should remain in motion to prevent damage. The result was a proactive, data-driven approach that protected product quality even during the harshest winter conditions.
Continuous improvement drives efficiencies, cost savings
One of the most powerful ways shippers can improve product integrity while controlling costs is by bringing in expertise from across the supply chain to uncover additional opportunities. That was the case for a specialty grocer moving premium, farm-fresh goods valued at approximately $30,000 and an established on-time delivery rate exceeding 99%.
Despite strong performance, a team of experts spanning the shipper, equipment manufacturer and grocer came together to examine every step in the process and were able to identify enhancements. The data review revealed that drivers were spending unnecessary time and fuel manually pre-cooling trailers before departure. By automating portions of the process, the trucks could be pre-cooled on time, meaning fuel isn’t wasted while idling. The refinements helped reduce manual intervention, improve consistency across shipments, streamline day-to-day processes and give the retailer more flexibility in how it manages temperature control at scale. For that grocer, savings exceeded $100,000 annually while maintaining product integrity and customer service standards.
In another example, a warehouse retailer sought to maximize trailer capacity by finding a way to ship frozen and fresh products together. The challenge was to maintain two distinct temperature requirements within the same refrigerated trailer. To accomplish this, a bulkhead wall created separate temperature zones that allowed ice cream and fresh produce to ship together while maintaining quality standards for both products.
Supply chain experts analyzed operating patterns and temperature data to identify settings that optimized both temperature control and efficiency. The result was improved trailer utilization, reduced transportation waste and reliable product quality from origin to destination.
Adoption of a continuous improvement mindset demonstrates a critical point: organizations do not need a failure event to gain value from their data. This often begins by asking whether an existing process can become even better.
Conclusion
Preventing claims doesn’t come down to one dashboard or tool. The foundation is the right technology: temperature monitoring, maintenance analytics and routing intelligence. Its impact is amplified when paired with operational expertise, disciplined processes and a culture of continuous improvement. As food supply chains become more connected and data-rich, the future of cold chain excellence will be defined not by data visibility alone, but by the ability to translate data into action.
The next time a claim occurs, a load is rejected or a process underperforms, don't stop at asking what happened. Ask why it happened, where similar risks may exist across the network and what the data suggests should change. The answers may reveal opportunities to improve product integrity, reduce costs and create value that has been hiding in the supply chain all along.
