Cooltrax offers IoT visibility for the cold chain
The cold chain, or the temperature-controlled supply chain, is a massive segment of the transport and logistics industry that handles commodities like agricultural produce, frozen food, seafood, ice cream, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. In North America, the cold chain was valued at roughly $62B in 2015. The United States Department of Trade reported that global losses in the food industry total more than $750B annually, primarily due to lack of proper facilities, improper food safety handling procedures, and insufficient training for personnel working in the cold chain.
Despite the wasteful, inefficient practices that prevail in the global cold chain, the sector’s value is growing rapidly: refrigerated warehouse capacity in the United States posted a 9% CAGR from 2008-14, for instance. The industry standard for monitoring temperature-controlled trailers is a single number recording the temperature for the whole trailer. Most refrigerated units are in the front of the trailer, and wide discrepancies in temperature can persist across the length of the trailer, especially during door events.