CF Logistics Relies on NexTraq Temperature Sensors to Maintain Compliance with Food Safety Regulations

Refrigerated freight company relies on NexTraq vehicle and trailer tracking with temperature sensors to monitor and document the transit of perishable produce.

CHALLENGE

CF Logistics needed to monitor the temperature of its fleet’s refrigerated trailers transporting perishable produce, as well as maintain compliance with food safety regulations and improve driver safety.

RESULT

  • Increased Fleet Efficiency
  • Reduced Risk
  • Improved Fleet Safety
  • Increased Cost Savings
  • Strengthened Customer Service

Challenge

CF Logistics provides less than truckload (LTL) and full truckload (TL) transportation and distribution services across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest, as well as limited service to the West Coast. Specializing in mushroom and fresh produce deliveries, the company’s Avondale, Pennsylvania, facility lies in the heart of the largest mushroom-growing region in the world.

Transporting fresh perishable produce requires monitoring the temperature in the fleet’s refrigerated trailers to maintain compliance with food safety regulations, as well as documenting transit data for customer claims and insurance purposes.

“Temperature is the number one factor in transporting quality refrigerated food,” said Ed Reardon, CF Logistics general manager. “If we don’t, it will spoil. We also must meet food safety standards for transporting perishable foods. Maintaining food temperature is critical in this industry.”

Solution

CF Logistics is an industrious company with complex needs—ranging from reliable asset tracking, to real-time insights and reports, to temperature sensors.

Mr. Reardon began working with NexTraq®—a MICHELIN® group company—early on for its affordable and reliable vehicle and asset tracking telematics solution. When the company was acquired by grower-shipper Giorgio Fresh Co., Ed convinced his new colleagues to install NexTraq in Giorgio’s fleet as well.

Through the years, CF Logistics has adopted more NexTraq solutions to streamline operations. Monitoring the temperature of the fleet’s refrigerated trailers while transporting delicate mushrooms and other perishable produce with short shelf lives was a high priority.

“Mushrooms come in from the mushroom houses at 48 to 52 degrees, and they are vac-cooled and loaded in the truck at 34°,” Ed explained. “At that point, temperature becomes critical. We installed NexTraq sensors to monitor and document the temperature during transit. NexTraq can also document the moment when the trailer doors open. That’s valuable data.”

Results

Temperature data is essential to CF Logistics. It’s the only way the company can show its customers the product was shipped properly, and the temperature was maintained during the entire transit process.

“We deliver mushrooms and other delicate produce to the customer’s dock,” Ed explained. “If they sit out in 60 to 70° weather for too long on their way to a cooler, they get warm quickly. If a customer says the mushrooms pulped at 45°, so we are rejecting them and filing a claim, we can go back to the NexTraq platform to find all the data. I can print off NexTraq reports and show customers that we did our job from the moment the product was loaded to when it hit the dock. NexTraq has saved us money by reducing claims. But it also gives us peace of mind.”

But temperature data is just one way CF Logistics benefits from their investment in NexTraq.

Operations Management

          CF Logistics began its relationship with NexTraq for GPS fleet tracking and asset tracking solutions,    helping them optimize their fleet operations. Today, NexTraq is the foundation of the company’s operation center, where Ed and his team use almost every NexTraq feature—from truck locations to ETAs to bidding jobs.

“We are always looking to see where our units are,” Ed said. “NexTraq is up all day on our 70-inch screen in the operations center. We’re tracking drivers, checking temperatures, and checking locations constantly—NexTraq covers about 70 percent of our workload. It keeps our fleet up and running, and in compliance. We rely on it now.”

Driver Safety & Accident Reports
CF Logistics also recently installed NexTraq Dashcam to improve fleet safety and protect the company from false accident claims.

“NexTraq Dashcam captures everything that happens, 24/7,” Ed said. “I can see what the driver saw in the fender mirrors, and I can see the driving environment. Recently, we were able to verify an accident where the cause of the incident wasn’t clear. It helps when we submit accident reports to the insurance company. When they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, they’re not kidding.”

Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports
Ed uses NexTraq Vehicle Inspection to ensure all safety checks are performed before his drivers hit the road. Because CF Logistics trucks have some industry-specific equipment on board, Ed needed customized driver vehicle inspection reports to make sure his drivers could document everything.

These reports also helped CF Logistics streamlined maintenance and prioritize repairs. That all adds up to safer workdays, improved uptime and increased profitability.

“The ability to design and customize my own driver vehicle inspection reports was vital,” Ed said. “It’s so easy to do with NexTraq. Everything is a checklist or a drop-down menu. It makes the driver’s life easier, and therefore my life easier. Because I know when something is missing or damaged, they’re reporting it.”

Fuel Management
NexTraq’s fuel management solution helps CF Logistics track, monitor, and analyze fuel consumption with simplified reports and alerts. That helped the company reduce fuel waste, hold drivers accountable for fuel purchases, and improve fuel purchasing behaviors.

“We do all fuel reporting through NexTraq,” Ed said. “It’s flawless.”

Ed attributes his success with NexTraq to the exceptional customer support he has received over the years, particularly from his NexTraq account manager.

“We have a long relationship with NexTraq because they are fabulous to work with,” Ed said. “Their installers are second to none. Everyone in the company—from sales to management to support—has always been responsive, and it’s always been a positive experience.”

To learn more about how NexTraq temperature sensors and asset management solutions can keep you compliant and drive your business to succeed, contact us online.

ABOUT CF LOGISTICS, LLC:

CF Logistics provides refrigerated TL & LTL Service to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Midwest, as well as limited service to the West Coast. The company also provides cross docking and warehousing services at its Avondale, PA facility.

“We have a long relationship with NexTraq because they are fabulous to work with.”

Ed Reardon
CF Logistics General Manager
CF Logistics