A downside is the shipper just accepted a lot of liability for that product if his container fails.
By shipping with a reliable reefer carrier the carrier can insure the frt, sometimes repair or cross dock in the event of cooling problems.
The shippers of these high value products want dependable service,which usually is not your cheaper options.
If they put thier cooling container in a low cost truck, one failure could wipe out many years of savings. And possibly some genius losing his job.
And, those low cost carriers will be less dependable and possibly more of a security risk.
( full disclosure: my wife and I own stock in an an expediting company that sets the standard in this type of refrigerated service.)
True, but of these high-value loads, are not many of them of such high value that the carrier assumes only a limited risk and leaves the major part with the shipper? Or, is not insuarance purchased to transfer the financial risk to the insurance company?
Also, with pharma loads, the high value is at the wholesale and retail end. The cost to manufacture more pills that sell at $30 each is a fraction of that amount.
The risk of a container failure is no greater than that of a truck or driver failure, I would think. It may even be less since there are fewer things to fail with a container than with a truck and driver. And if one of these smart containers alarms, the options to put it in cold storage, a secure warehouse, or on a rescue reefer truck are the same.
The arrangement was mentioned above where a container is carried in a reefer truck from the beginning to provide a double layer of protection. That's wise where such protection is required. But there are many temperature-controlled loads in pharma where such protection is not needed.
It seems to me that the features and benefits these Cool Containers provide will healthy place for them in cold-chain transport, just as the container in a reefer truck concept will continue to make sense in certain situations.
The liability issue you mention is important. Another way to manage it might be for a company to stockpile these containers near shipper locations and rent guaranteed containers to the shipper on a shipment by shipment basis. Insurance can be purchased by the container owner to cover the risk while assuming liability for the shipment.
Forgive me, but I am very impressed with this concept. Because they are so portable and (presumably) durable and reliable, I see few objections to the product that cannot be overcome where the shipment is appropriate for the product and vice versa.
I can see a company like FedEx embracing the concept and shipping the sealed, smart, self-tracking, communicating containers through its LTL network. I don't see the communications capabilities in the Cool Containers ad but the information flow is at least important to shippers as maintaining the set point. If it is not there already, someone will soon come up with a container that can call home on its own.
Again, shippers in this market do not want reefer trucks and drivers. They want their products maintained at a given set point and transported safely to their destination, and they want to be kept informed about the shipment's location and status while it is in transit.
Much of the communications and monitoring capability is built into the reefer trucks today and/or provided by the drivers. I think it is only a matter of time before it gets built into the containers. When it does, the added value provider is no longer the carrier but the container.
The above opinion comes from a guy who believes robots will replace truck drivers sooner than most people think. Indeed, it's already happening now. See
this post in The Loading Dock forum.
