Vehicle Breakdown Procedures 4.15 BRC

Hello all,

I am attempting to get a food manufacturer with no previous use of BRC to be certified. The factory is remotely located in a rural area. We use third party contracted haulers for our finished product. NONE of the people we use for delivery of our product have ever even heard of BRC. I am looking for an example to satisfy the request for a "vehicle breakdown procedure". Our warehouse manager simply states "there is absolutely no contractual agreement on anything with the companies shipping our product, its simply done with insurance, once they sign for the load, they own the load". I have explained that the requirements for BRC would need more documentation. It seems impossible. It is like I am calling up other trucking companies to tell them how to run their own business. It is like I am not only the BRC coordinator for my company, but for all the companies we deal with as well. None of the trucking companies have a single other client making requests like this. But now that I am done feeling sorry for my current position......

Does anybody have a template for a "Vehicle Breakdown Procedure", and any advice as to how to get a third part contracted Truck to receive and return the paperwork involved with 4.15?

I am new at this and have no one but you all to probe for solutions on these matters so I appreciate any advice you may have to offer.

Sincerely

Alex Duckworth

Double B Foods

"there is absolutely no contractual agreement on anything with the companies shipping our product, its simply done with insurance, once they sign for the load, they own the load".

Well, there should be in accordance with 4.15.17: "Where the company employs third-party contractors, all the requirements specified in this section shall be clearly defined in the contract and verified or the contracted company shall be certificated to the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution or similar internationally recognised Standard."

As far as "breakdown procedures" go, it depends on what products you are transporting and what breaks down.

We do not ship products that require refrigeration and our company transports our product. The following is an excerpt from our transportation procedure:

3.0       Transportation Breakdown

3.1       In the event of a breakdown, driver will move vehicle to a safe location whenever possible.  Driver will stay with the vehicle until road service arrives to ensure there is no tampering with the product contained in the trailer.

3.2       Driver calls the Risk Office to report the breakdown. Risk Office transfers the call to the garage for immediate response.
 

3.3       A decision will be made to either send out a road call to repair the equipment or to send a replacement.

3.4       If there is any damage to the trailer containing finished goods, it will be returned to Company so the contents of the trailer can be inspected for food safety or quality issues.

3.5       Inspection will be carried out by the Shipping Manager or the Assistant Shipping Manager.

Hope that helps a little,

Marshall

Thank you very much. I am putting together a request for cooperation with transport companies now. I greatly appreciate your time and help with everything.

I have one important thing to add for fresh or frozen goods : 
Keep the doors closed so the temperature can be kept in the limits. If possible, connect the truck to power supply. If not, and if the cooler can work, keep it on as long as possible.
When the repair is done, go into the cab and check the temperature of the products (refer to adequate procedure, like a CCP one, for the limits and corrective actions...)
 
Mathieu Colmant

.........

 

Well, there should be in accordance with 4.15.17: "Where the company employs third-party contractors, all the requirements specified in this section shall be clearly defined in the contract and verified or the contracted company shall be certificated to the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution or similar internationally recognised Standard."

..........................

 

Hope that helps a little,

Marshall

I think that is a typo - the clause is 4.15.7 in the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety but your points are valid.

Regarding the breakdown procedure as well as damages etc. I think the concerns and the intention of the standard is that there is control of chilled and frozen products when the refrigeration has suffered a breakdown.

Regards,

Tony