Pharmaceutical range
Controlled room temperature transport (+15 °C to +25 °C)
The most common range for non-refrigerated medicines and the most neglected: "ambient" does not mean "uncontrolled". It is carried with the same active equipment, the same recording and the same deviation handling as the cold chain.
Why does an "ambient" medicine need a cooling unit?
Because the inside of an unrefrigerated trailer is nothing like the ambient temperature outside. A closed trailer parked in the sun passes +40 °C easily, and the load compartment takes hours to come down even once the vehicle moves. A product declared "do not store above +25 °C" travelling from Barcelona to Milan in August without active equipment is out of range for much of the journey, even if nobody is measuring it.
What travels at +15/+25 °C?
- Solid dosage forms: tablets, capsules and granulates.
- Syrups, solutions and vials that are not refrigerated.
- Heat-sensitive product outside the cold chain, with an upper limit of +25 °C or +30 °C.
- Cosmetics and dermocosmetics with a manufacturer-declared thermal limit.
- Packaging materials and semi-finished product with a thermal requirement.
How is the range controlled in practice?
- Setpoint, not "ventilation mode"
- The unit runs on a fixed temperature setpoint, not in ventilation mode. Ventilation moves air but cannot bring the inside below the outside temperature.
- Continuous recording
- Both probes record exactly as in the cold chain. The delivery report is the same document with the same level of detail.
- The lower limit too
- The range has two ends. In winter, crossing the Alps or eastern Europe with product that must not fall below +15 °C is a real freezing risk, and the unit also heats.
- Dock protection
- Door-open waiting at loading and unloading is kept short, which is where the range is lost fastest in summer.
And if the specification says "do not store above +30 °C"?
It is handled the same way, with whatever setpoint the customer sets. The upper limit of +25 °C or +30 °C is declared by the manufacturer in the product specification, and transport follows that declaration, not the other way round. What does not change is the method: fixed setpoint, continuous recording and a formal deviation if it is breached.
Frequently asked questions
Is +15/+25 °C transport cheaper than cold chain?
Somewhat, but less than people assume. Fuel consumption of the unit is lower because the thermal gap against the outside is smaller for much of the year, but the vehicle, the qualification, the recording and the procedure are identical. What genuinely brings down the cost of a pharmaceutical lane is regularity and a loaded return leg, not lowering the control standard.
Can a single-use data logger document controlled room temperature transport?
It can complement the vehicle record, not replace it. A single-use logger inside the pallet gives the temperature at that point and is read on opening; the vehicle record is continuous, uses verified probes and allows a reaction during the trip rather than afterwards. Many customers use both, and there is no objection to carrying them.
What happens on a multi-day journey?
Recording is continuous through the driver’s mandatory rest periods, which are governed by Regulation (EC) 561/2006. The unit keeps running with the engine off, and rest hours show in the graph for what they are: periods with the vehicle stationary and the temperature under control.
Need a full truck for pharmaceutical or refrigerated freight?
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