Guide · Cold chain
Cold chain temperature tracking in transit: read it on the road, not at the door.
A data logger read at delivery tells you the load went warm after the customer has already rejected it.
Temperature tracking in transit means reading the temperature (and often humidity) of a load continuously while the vehicle moves, and raising an alert when it leaves the allowed band, instead of downloading a logger after delivery.
Logger at delivery vs live tracking
| Logger read at delivery | Live temperature tracking | |
|---|---|---|
| When you find out | After the trip | While the truck is moving |
| What you can do | Accept or reject the load | Call the driver, check the reefer, divert |
| Evidence | A file per trip, if someone downloads it | Every reading with position and time |
| Customer view | None until delivery | A link showing the trip in progress |
How to set it up
- Set a temperature band per shipment type, for example 2–8 °C for many chilled pharmaceutical loads; confirm the band with the product owner.
- Decide what counts as an excursion: how far outside the band and for how long.
- Send the alert to someone who can act on it, with the truck’s position.
- Record humidity where the product is sensitive to it.
- Keep the full reading history with the trip for audits and customer queries.
Common pitfalls
- Alerts on every brief spike, so the desk learns to ignore them.
- Sensors placed next to the door or the evaporator, not in the load.
- No owner for an excursion alert at night.
- Readings stored separately from the trip, so nobody can match them later.
Related: ColdWatch for cold rooms and reefer temperature logger integration.
How Portable GPS Tracker does it
Portable GPS Tracker is built for shippers that hire most of their fleet. A charged 4G device (with 2G fallback on highways) is assigned to the trip at the gate, and the trip is created in about forty seconds from masters: vehicle, carrier, LRs, invoices, route and driver. The customer gets a live tracking link with no app and no login, which expires when the trip closes. Every ping carries position, battery, temperature and humidity; ETA is worked out from remaining kilometres and the speed this truck actually makes; excursions, long halts and silent devices are flagged to the desk. At arrival the trip closes, a movement report is ready in PDF or Excel, and the device is queued for collection and back into the branch inventory. Where there is no device, consent-based SIM location is the fallback, and fixed GPS and carrier telematics feeds can land on the same trip.
Questions
What is temperature tracking in transit?
Reading a load’s temperature continuously while the vehicle moves, with alerts when it leaves the allowed band, instead of downloading a logger after delivery.
What temperature band should I use?
It depends on the product; 2–8 °C is common for chilled pharmaceutical loads, but confirm the band with the product owner.
Why is a logger at delivery not enough?
By the time it is read, the excursion has happened and the customer may already have rejected the load.
See it on your own data. Portable GPS Tracker — Track any truck, owned or hired. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.