Packing a Shipment That Arrives Usable

Part of Clinical Laboratory (LAB) Training: Shipping and the Cold Chain.

About 2 minutes. Free, in your language, no account needed.

The goal is condition on arrival, not on departure

A shipment that left you at the right temperature and arrived warm has failed. Packing is about the whole journey.

Assume delays. Assume a weekend. Pack for the trip that goes wrong, because that is the one the samples have to survive.

Follow the manual's configuration

The laboratory manual specifies the shipper, the coolant, the quantity and the arrangement. These are validated together.

Substituting a different box, or less dry ice than specified, breaks the validation even if it feels sufficient.

Dry ice sublimates, and the rate is the point

Dry ice does not melt into a puddle you can see. It turns to gas and disappears.

The specified quantity is calculated for the expected transit time with margin. Half the dry ice is not half the protection, because once it is gone the temperature rises quickly.

For a longer or uncertain journey, more is better. Under-packing is the failure that shows up on arrival.

Include a temperature logger when the manual asks

The logger is the evidence that the chain held. Without one, arrival temperature is a single reading at the end of an unknown journey.

Activate it before it goes in the box. An unactivated logger is a common and entirely avoidable finding.

Note the logger identifier on the shipping documentation so the receiving laboratory can match it.

Never ship into a closed door

Confirm the receiving laboratory is open and expecting the shipment.

A frozen shipment arriving at a loading bay on a Saturday can sit at ambient until Monday. The packing was correct and the samples are still lost.

Check the receiving laboratory's holiday schedule, not only your own.

Keep a copy of everything

The manifest, the airway bill, the logger identifier and the packing list.

If the shipment goes missing, those documents are how it gets traced.