The leading international freight transport and logistics insurer, TT Club has drawn attention to action required to reduce perishable cargo losses and refrigerated container failures and damage
London, 22 October, 2020
Analysis of the specialist insurer’s claims records for transport operators over the past three years shows temperature-controlled incidents ranking in third place.
Almost 30% of these incidents involved a miscommunication of operational instructions on care of the cargo with a further 23% down to temperature setting errors. Reefer equipment failure or damage accounted for a quarter of the reefer claims.
TT continues in its attempts to minimise losses for both its Members and all those involved in the cool supply chain with publicly available guidance documents such as StopLoss – Temperature Controlled Cargo, and increasingly via online webinars. The latest was held last week, entitled ‘Warm or cold: is it a game?’.
With expert speakers, this forum contained causational information as well as advice on risk avoidance.
“Our own experiences and the data drawn from our claims history was reinforced by over a third of webinar attendees, who when asked their perception of the primary risk factors, pointed to communications errors with ambiguous or incorrect instructions passed between supply chain stakeholders,” commented Mike Yarwood, TT’s Loss Prevention Managing Director.
The sensitivity of many commodities transported under temperature-controlled conditions puts the care of the product both before and during transit as a paramount concern.
During TT’s webinar, Carsten Jensen, a consultant and surveyor specialising in perishable goods transport gave a comprehensive insight into the five key aspects that impinge on loss prevention: product quality; preparation of the goods; correct packaging and stowing; attention to temperature irregularities and prolonged storage and transit.
“Clearly a number of these processes are outwith the control of forwarder, carrier and terminal operator,” commented Yarwood. “But as the demand for unitised transport of perishables continues its upward trend, it is vital that the transport links in the chain become more informed about all the relevant processes to improve the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders.”
About TT Club
TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry.
TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air.
TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more.
I find these reported statistics very concerning and cannot agree.
WRT the 29% communication error and the 24% temp-set errors- that is merely uninsurable risk and those victims deserve every blood nose- they are simple avoidable errors- candidates for the Darwin Awards, where there is absolutely no excuse for the error. I have no sympathy whatsoever for those losses- they deserve them. Any cargo owner that does not check the equipment before loading deserves to be cut from the system and fail. Good riddance!
19% equipment breakdown- Rubbish. The safest place for a container is on the ship! Fact! My data shows clearly a machinery intervention required in one out of every 3250 feu on reefers.
My appreciation of claims in perishables is more towards incorrect packaging, hot stuffing but mostly inherent vice. You only mention hot stuffing.
I would love to attend such a webinar to see who is spreading such ill-informed stats