Learn how thermal cargo blankets help protect your cold chain products.
Thermal cargo blankets protect temperature sensitive goods shipped by air and land from the effects of the external environment.
Thermal cargo blankets are also called pallet covers, thermal cargo covers, insulated pallet covers, and cargo covers.
As you know, temperature regulation is critical to protecting your sensitive cold chain products. And unfortunately, it’s very difficult (or impossible) for you to control the environment and handling of your products once they’re part of the cold supply chain.
Using thermal cargo blankets on your pallets is a proactive strategy for maintaining the correct temperature range as your products move through the supply chain.
Data from a 2011 University of California study emphasizes how hot it really can get for your products during transit. For example, temperatures of 24°C (75°F) can mean tarmac temperatures of 40°C (104°F).
And when you think about how long your products may be left stranded on the tarmac, waiting at ports in containers, or stuck at border crossings – taking extra steps to maintain temperature and environment only make smart business sense.
The Facts on Thermal Cargo Blankets
Thermal cargo blankets are a passive thermal solution designed to protect your temperature sensitive products from all too-common cold supply chain challenges, including:
- Extreme ambient temperatures
- Radiation, including solar radiation and emitted radiation from the tarmac
- Weather including rain, sleet, snow, and wind
- Theft and damage
- Shipping and transportation delays
- Lack of qualified personnel and labor shortages
- Heat generated by respiring perishable products trapped under a protective cover
- Incorrect application of packaging, such as using film based wraps and covers
Thermal cargo blankets are essential to protect pharmaceutical ingredients, chemicals, medical devices, cosmetics, perishable food products, paint, and electronics. Our thermal cargo blankets are specifically engineered to address the threat of cold chain breaks during air transit. Protecting your temperature sensitive products when they are at highest risk for temperature excursions.
What You Need to Know about Temperature Excursions
The reality is that temperature excursions pose an enormous risk for your cold chain products.
- According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), almost 60% of all temperature excursions occur due to tarmac delays.
- A Georgia Tech University survey found that 90% of temperature excursions were the result of human error, with the vast majority attributed to errors during pack-out.
Despite advancements in cold chain monitoring technology, packaging products, industry knowledge, and professional expertise, temperature excursions can still occur during shipping and transportation.
Make sure you know these 5 primary causes of temperature excursions during transportation and shipping:
- Pallets left unattended in airports, loading docks, ship yards, and even parking lots.
- Unexpected transportation delays and cancelations.
- Labor shortages and the trickle down impacts this has on shipping and transport.
- Insufficient and incorrect packaging that is not designed to protect cold chain products.
- Lack of insight into the cold chain management process and inability to proactively respond to delays and human error.
Temperature excursions can lead to real-world consequences like product and financial losses, quality issues, health concerns, diminished brand loyalty and reputation, eroded customer trust, and threats to company viability.
How to Choose a Thermal Cargo Blanket
To choose a thermal cargo blanket that is designed for cold chain products, keep in mind these key features and qualities:
- Reflective: choose a thermal cargo blanket designed to reflect solar radiation. You need a science-backed thermal cover that can maintain load temperatures at 1°C above ambient temperature.
- Breathable: condensation and trapped gasses are risk factors, causing water damage and impacting moisture levels. This environmental change can damage you primary and tertiary packaging and labelling. You need a thermal blanket designed to allow gas, condensation, vapor, and moisture to escape the cover.
- Durable: wind, rain, sleet, snow, debris (sticks, rocks, sand, etc.), airborne contamination, pests, and human and mechanical behaviors can damage packaging or spill contaminants on pallets and packaging. You need thermal cargo blanket that has been tested in all conditions and hazard risks.
- Recyclable: sustainable and reusable passive thermal solutions must be a priority. You need a thermal cargo blanket that does more than protect your products. You need a thermal cover that can be recycled into lumber and marine engineering products, pallets, park benches, playground equipment, and more.
- Easy-To-Use: you need a lightweight thermal cover that can be easily installed on a pallet and quickly removed and packed down for storage and transportation.
Your Thermal Cargo Blanket Checklist
Ask these questions before choosing a thermal cargo blanket:
- How is the thermal cargo blanket tested? What types of temperature and weather hazards can it tolerate?
- What is the thermal cargo blanket made of? How do these materials reflect solar radiation?
- Is the thermal blanket breathable?
- How does the thermal cover protect from temperature excursions including heat and cold?
- How do I install the thermal cargo blanket?
- How does this thermal cover compare to competitors? What makes this thermal blanket the best choice for my cold chain products?
- Is the thermal cover specifically designed and engineered to protect temperature sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals?
- Is the thermal cargo blanket recommended for air freight and/or land freight?
- Does the thermal cover protect against a range of cold chain transportation and shipping risks and hazards?
We are here to answer your questions about our industry leading CCT Thermal Covers, powered by Tyvek®. Contact us to learn how our thermal cargo blankets deliver advanced multi-threat protection at an affordable price.
At CCT, we put a priority on telling you what we know about cold chain solutions, packaging, and management. This is what we do – we are experts in cold chain packaging solutions.
