PERISHABLE OPERATIONS

 
CHAPTER 6 – PERISHABLE OPERATIONS

This chapter details the entire transportation chain from the time of booking until the delivery of the shipment of perishable goods to the consignee.

Quality and Risk management attention on the importance of quality and risk management aspects which are applicable to all activities throughout the entire transportation process. 

Booking and documentation- identifies all information required at the stage of booking a perishable shipments and provides general information pertaining to the transport of perishable by air including the appropriate documentation and labeling.

Acceptance- describes the acceptance procedures when perishable shipments are submitted to the carrier or its ground handler and highlights areas for special attention during the ready-for-carriage.

Cargo and Ground Operations- covers all processes related to ground handling and include information about intermediate storage as well as outbound and inbound procedures.

Effects of handling operations on Perishables Quality explain three big factors-temperatures, moisture and vibration that can affect the quality of perishable shipments during ground handling processes.

General description of intermediate Storage Facilities lists the processing, working and storage areas as well as pre-cooling and treatment facilities that can be found at airport.

Outbound Procedures-provide basic information about the different categories of ULD's used for the transport of perishables and how they are transport by air.

Inbound Procedures-covers all processes after the perishable shipment has reached its intermediate or final destination from unloading until the break-down and customs clearance.

Delivery-the final handover process forms the carrier or its ground handlers to the consignee. 

General Description of Intermediate Storage Facilities:

Processing and working areas:

Different kind of products are categorized and processed separately. Fruits and Vegetables are processed separately.

from other products such as seafood, fish and meat. Ideally the temperature range for the working areas should match.

the product requirement as communicated during booking.

Cold Rooms and Freezers

At many airports cold rooms and freezers are available for temporary storage at acceptance, transit or awaiting final delivery.

Temperatures of these facilities are mainly around 5  C, -18  C and 20  C. in some locations other temperatures can be available

but that will dependent on the products being shipped to or from that airport.

Cold Rooms – storing perishables in a cold room is the best way to slow down the quality loss process. Any waiting at different locations should always be done in cold room. In most cases cold rooms will consist of forced air cooling systems that can maintain a pre-set temperature.

In general, the primary use of a cold room to maintain required temperatures of temporary storage conditions not to increase or decrease the temperature of a shipment or its contents. In cold room loads should always be placed with a gap of 15 to 30 cm distance to allow for adequate ventilation.

Freezers- are a necessity when frozen products are to be handled. It is better to keep frozen loads for a certain time prior to moving them onto their final destination. Dropping the temperature below freezing point is critical to maintain quality of frozen products. So in both cases freezers must be of such size to accommodate the total amount of frozen products transiting through the facility whilst considering a waiting time period for inbound loads.

Relationship between ULD's and perishables:

ULD's are the main means of carrying packaged perishables during air transport.

Column stacking will generally be unstable. Such packaging's must always be cross-stacked, or 'T' stacked to improve stability.

Whenever there seems to subsist a risk of load shifting during ground handling and flight, it is recommended to maintain stack assembly overall shape by cardboard or plastic corners. 

In case of ULD's such as LD3 where one side has an angle, it is better to use a corner base to stack more boxes. A very common mistake is to try to squeeze in a few more boxes which eventually causes more boxes to be damages.

Container loading- when loading a ULD container the cargo should not be in contact with the inside walls, roof or base. A minimum gap of 2 cm (1 inch) should be left to allow natural air convection in the container and around the cargo.

Contamination

Because ULD are used to carry perishables, it may happen that the previous load leave dirty material on the surface. For this sanitation procedure is required.

ULD's are often not cleaned until a visual inspection reveals some sorts of spill or dirt. The only way to avoid dirtiness need regular cleaning procedure.

Active Temperature Control Containers:

These containers depend on ambient temperature that are higher than the set point of the container to compensate for

too low temperatures. This type of container should never be stored in a cold room or kept outside when waiting to be.

loaded. As a rule of thumb, the ambient temperature should be at least. 

5  C above the set temperature of the container. If the set point is 5  C then the ambient temperature should be at least 10  C.

When using Dry ice for cooling the amount required for the shipment has to be calculated and loaded into the bunker compartment. Dependent on ambient conditions, duration and delays. The bunker may need to be monitored and restocked on route.

Cooling system of RKN t2 container:

Thermostat controlled heat exchanger powered by 16 D-size alkaline batteries and using dry ice as coolant.

Max ice bunker capacity when using block ice*

(Up to 50% less capacity if dry ice pellets are used)                                               180 kg

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           397lbs

Cooling range*

(Desired temperature in the container)                                                                   -20 to +20 °C

-4 to +68 °F

Max operating period without re-icing and battery change**                              72 hr

Thermostat controlled heat exchanger powered by 16 D-size alkaline batteries and using dry ice as coolant.

Max ice bunker capacity when using block ice*

(Up to 50% less capacity if dry ice pellets are used)                                300 kg

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              660 lbs

Cooling range*

(Desired temperature in the container)                                                   -20 to +20 °C

-4 to +68 °F

Max   period without re-icing and battery change**                               72 hr

*Dry ice amount may vary depending on which type is used; blocks, pellets, wrapped/unwrapped etc.

**Provided that ambient temperature is more than 5°C (9°F) and less than 25°C (45°F) higher than the temperature of the product

shipped. To evaluate specific transportation times and conditions, please refer to the Operations Manual.

Aircraft Active containers: have the ability to operate for long period of time in extreme ambient temperatures (typically -30C to +50C)

These containers are designed to maintain the required product temperature in all ambient conditions. Therefor they are the best option for perishable and pharmaceutical shipments that are temperature critical and high value.

These systems also offer the flexibility to select different product set-point temperatures for the shipment based on the product's stability data.

Dependent on ambient conditions, duration and delays; the container internal power source (Typically a bank of batteries) state of charged should be monitored via the display screen and connected to ground AC power to recharge if required.

Performance data of RKN E1 container:

● Autonomy running on batteries >100 h in a typical shipment scenario (dependent on ambient temperature exposure)
● Autonomy running on batteries minimum 30 h at extreme conditions 
● Product set temperature range between ±0 to +20°C (ideal performance at set temperature +5°C)
● Maintains product temperature from +2°C to +8°C at container set temperature +5°C
● Batteries charged (from 0 to 100%) in 8 h

Enviornatainer is an open-platform service provider – our products are made available worldwide through a range of partners in the airline and 

forwarding industry. Contact your service provider or contact Enviornatainer directly to test the RKN e1 container.

Performance data of RAP E2 container:

● Autonomy running on batteries >100 h in a typical shipment scenario (dependent on ambient temperature exposure and set point)
● Autonomy running on batteries in extreme conditions up to 35 h
● Operational at temperatures from -30 to +50°C
● Set temperature range ±0 to +25°C
● Temperature tolerance ±3°C (at set temperature +5°C) when container is in use
● Batteries charged (from 0 to 100%) in 12 h, regardless if container is in use or not

ULD temporary storage before loading:

After build-up has been completed as per ULD procedure prior to loading consists of keeping container as long as possible in an appropriate cold room or for a short time (<2 hours) in a shaded area.

When containers are delivered directly at the airport prior to a flight they should be transported in a refrigerated truck and placed immediately in a cold room. 

Action required during transit:

It is essential that ULD's that are dependent on external power supplies or phase charging materials are monitored throughout the shipment. If necessary, the following respective steps must be taken to maintain temperature control functionalities of the container where applicable:

• Replaceable batteries-replace with equivalent new batteries.
• Rechargeable batteries plug unit into mains power and recharge batteries to full charge.
• Dry Ice- remove any remaining dry ice before placing new dry ice in the dry ice bunker.

Load Planning:

After the completion of ULD loading all perishable cargo types and ULD information must appear on the carrier's final load weight statement.

NOTOC:

This document must be used to notify captains of any load which may be potential hazardous, or which should be brought to the attention of the flight crew. This could result from the need for special storage, inflight care, and attention at transit point or special requirement in case of delay.