This final rule establishes requirements for vehicles and transportation equipment, transportation operations, training, and recordkeeping. For example, prior to loading food that is not completely enclosed by its container, loaders are required to determine that a vehicle is in appropriate sanitary condition for the transport of the food, e.g., it is inadequate physical condition, and free of visible evidence of pest infestation and previous cargo that could cause the food to become unsafe during transportation. Operators of motor vehicles, railcars, and other equipment used in food transportation would be required to establish written procedures, subject to record keeping requirements, for cleaning and inspecting their vehicles and transportation equipment. The FDA can review these procedures and records.
Another example is the requirement for individuals who transport foods that require time/temperature control for safety to ensure the maintenance of the transportation cold chain during operations. This includes pre-cooling the vehicle, loading and unloading operations, and the transportation phase. The rule also establishes procedures for the exchange of information about prior cargos transported in bulk vehicles such as tankers, that directly contact food, the intervening cleaning of the vehicles, and information about temperature control, between the shipper, carrier and receiver, as appropriate to the situation. Shippers need this information to ensure adequate sanitation practices are used to prevent adulteration of transported products. For example, a shipper of a bulk liquid non-dairy food product would want to obtain information from the carrier assuring that any vehicles that have previously hauled dairy based foods have been adequately cleaned and will not introduce allergens into the non-dairy food through cross contact.
