4 replies to this topic

[K Nista]

Our small co pack facility is working toward initial SQF certification.  Most of our incoming and outbound shipments are LTL and most LTL drivers will not put a new seal on the truck after each stop.  Looking for advice on how to address this for SQF.  Thanks in advance for your input.

[kconf]

Then you can simply state "driver lock" in the column where it says "Seal #". 

[jfrey123]

LTL is always a problem in the world of SQF.  Drivers get lazy and don't want to lock the trailers every stop, so you'll reject a lot of loads if you've written a hard requirement for LTL's to be locked in your SOP.  We rely on the pallets being inspected and seeing that the pallets/case seals are intact as evidence the material is still secure.

[Tony-C]

Hi K Nista,

 

This covered in the SQF Food Safety Code Section 11.6.5 Loading, Transport, and Unloading Practices

 

Clause 11.6.5.3: ‘Vehicles (e.g., trucks/vans/containers) shall be secured from tampering using seals or other agreed-upon and acceptable devices or systems.’

 

As per previous posts, in your situation, a load secured with a lock is the minimum expectation and is more practical than asking the driver put on a new seal after each stop and logging those.

 

You should also ensure that your finished products are truly tamper evident and that you will be able to detect evidence of tampering on incoming goods and that they are inspected to confirm that they are intact on acceptance of the delivery.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[GMO]

I've never worked in logistics but wouldn't it be great if they poke-yoked this out?  So for example, that there was a proximity sensor on the door that would only open when the driver key was nearby or that it couldn't open when the key was in the ignition or something.  I get why that would be hard with interchangeable trailer units but it feels like a clause that's just inevitable will fail and probably won't be reported a lot.

And I type this having had the bitter experience of finding evidence of stowaways in a lorry later and the missing seal not being reported.  Happens far less in the UK than it used to but it's still a risk.