The number of pharmacies and drug stores in the USA is increasing year after year. As of 2022, their total number is over 26,400. At the same time, pharmacies in rural areas are closing. For residents of the abandoned territories, it may become a real challenge to get the needed medicines. The main reason for such a critical situation is the poor choice of logistics solutions. It has become inconvenient and unprofitable for retailers to deliver drugs and medicines to remote areas.
One of the main problems is the necessity to use special trucks and containers for pharmacy transportation. It isn’t possible just to load medicine staff in standard cargo and transport it for several days. It may lead to catastrophic consequences for the quality of the products.
There are several transportation rules that are a must when it comes to pharmacy logistics. They are the following:
- Temperature control.
Special box trucks are often used to transport medications. They allow maintaining an optimal temperature regime. By the way, heat is more dangerous for medications than cold temperatures. Moreover, nowadays there are lots of tools and software created for the very these purposes.
- Air humidity.
The next crucial factor is the level of humidity. If it is too high, chemicals may be spoiled. At the same time, the air should be fresh. You can use special equipment to maintain the needed climate conditions. However, you should keep in mind that the use of additional technologies entails an increase in total logistics costs.
- Proper handling and storage conditions.
When it comes to the transportation of medications, it’s better to hire full truckload carriers. Then you do not need to worry that medicines are placed close to dangerous staff or poisons. Moreover, the option of full truckload delivery allows you to speed up the transportation process and get your cargo as soon as possible.
- Documents.
It’s impossible to transport medical cargo unless you gather and process all the needed permissions and forms. Their number and type may vary depending on the class of medication you have to transport. If you ignore this point, you risk paying huge fines or your cargo can be even confiscated.
While the requirements are extra high, it’s necessary to cooperate with top-quality logistics partners. You should be ready to spend significant time and effort to find a reliable freight forwarder with enough capacities and experience. Otherwise, you risk receiving a truck of spoiled medications or even worse – poisoned consumers.
To conclude, it should be noticed that shipping drugs and medicines is not an easy task. There are so many aspects to be taken into account that it’s better to entrust these tasks to professionals. When you hire a logistics company, the team of experts possesses the needed skills and knowledge to establish the transportation process in the most effective way.