2 Ways a GPS Tracking System Can Improve Food Quality Rastrac Team | Jun 17, 2016 11:19:55 AM

When you think of tools designed to help improve food quality, odds are that your first thoughts are of packaging systems, preservation methods, ingredient quality, and the like. What many fleet managers for companies that specialize in transporting food don’t know is the impact that a GPS tracking system can have on food quality.

It sounds odd, but using GPS systems on your fleet vehicles that handle food can actually help you maintain and improve your food quality, particularly for perishable items.

Here’s how:

1: Minimizing Delivery Delays for Perishable Items

Many food items have a short shelf life. For example, most produce has a shelf life of only a few days or weeks.

When delivering shipments of produce over long distances, any kind of delay can have a significant impact on the quality of the food that arrives at the store. A setback of a few hours here or there can lead to food arriving a whole day or more late. This can let fruits and vegetables over ripen before they reach their destination, rendering them unusable by the store.

GPS tracking systems help avoid this by keeping your delivery vehicles on-time and on-task. With GPS fleet tracking you can:

• Give drivers routes that go around traffic jams.
• Keep drivers from getting lost on back roads.
• Plan delivery routes for greatest efficiency.
• Get alerts when a driver leaves their assigned route.
• Collect key engine performance data that alerts you to a need for preventative maintenance.
• Know exactly where a truck or trailer is in case of a breakdown.

Each of these capabilities helps you minimize delivery delays so that shipments of perishable foods can arrive on time.

2: Monitoring Refrigeration Equipment Status

Refrigerated trailers are a must for delivering highly perishable goods over long distances. But, what happens when a refrigeration unit fails?

In many cases, if a refrigeration unit fails, the problem won’t be spotted until the next time the driver stops the truck and inspects the trailer. This could take hours, during which time the cold food may spoil, ruining the whole load.

With GPS devices for refrigerated truck tracking, this issue can be avoided. Some trailer-mounted GPS devices can provide remote diagnostics for your refrigerated trailers, including power status and current temperature readouts.

Such remote diagnostics can let you know immediately when the power to a trailer is interrupted, or when temperatures go above safe levels. This lets you reach out to the driver and alert them to the need to check the trailer and make repairs before the cold storage food is ruined.

Even better, by logging this diagnostic data, you can show compliance with key food transportation safety standards if needed.

Keep your perishable food shipments on time and in top condition with GPS tracking for your fleet vehicles!