Grain shipping is a freight transportation process for moving bulk or packaged grain while protecting sanitation, moisture control, and cargo integrity. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a federal agency that oversees food safety, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a law that strengthens food safety during transit. We’ll show you how to ship grain while maintaining compliance with FDA and FSMA regulations.
Key Takeaways:
Whether you’re moving crops into storage or to the mills where they’ll be processed, this guide helps you choose the safest, most cost-effective shipping plan.
Disclaimer: This guide is general information and doesn’t replace FDA/FSMA requirements or legal advice.
The FDA is a US agency that oversees food safety and enforces the FSMA, which is a law that applies prevention-focused food safety rules across the supply chain. If you’re shipping grain for human food or animal feed, your shipment must align with the applicable requirements under the FSMA.
Grains in their various forms are shipped as bulk, packaged, or refined products for consumption by humans and livestock. The form of the grain determines the best equipment, handling steps, and contamination controls.
We’ve created a chart to show the most common grains that are FDA regulated for food safety transit:
Refined grain products are more sensitive to moisture than whole grain. Treat your shipments as food-safe and require clean, dry, and odor-free equipment. Let’s take a look at the federal guidelines to safely move these grains via truckload and intermodal shipping.
The Sanitary Food Transportation Act (SFTA) of 2005 is a US law that shippers and carriers must follow to prevent the outbreak of foodborne illnesses from unsafe transport practices.
The SFTA requires shipping containers and trailers to be clean and equipped to prevent food spoilage. For example, reefer trailers must have functioning refrigeration that maintains food-safe temperatures.
Most grain shipments prioritize moisture prevention over refrigeration. Use temperature control only when the specifics of your grain require it.
The FSMA of 2011 expands on SFTA with new rules to increase food safety transportation, including the rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food. The Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food is a rule that outlines how shippers, loaders, carriers, and receivers prevent contamination of food during transit.
It includes updated requirements for equipment cleanliness, proper handling procedures, and temperature-control to help protect food and feed during transit.
What these regulations mean for shippers is ensuring you vet the carriers you trust to transport freight grain.
This includes checking:
USA Truckload Shipping only works with carriers that have established FDA compliance and lane history to guarantee your shipment is in good hands from pick up to delivery.
There are multiple methods you can use to ship your freight. The best one ultimately comes down to the type of freight you’re shipping and how it’s packed. We’ll go over these methods in the following sections.
A hopper bottom trailer is a specialized top-loading trailer with sloped interior sides and a bottom-discharge system designed to unload bulk materials like grain using gravity. Due to their design, they allow for fluid transportation and unloading.
Intermodal is a shipping mode that typically combines truck and rail. However, other methods of transport can also be used, such as ocean and air transport. The rail is used for the long haul portion of the shipment, while the truck is used for pickup and delivery using a chassis. The chassis is a wheeled frame used to move containers by truck
LTL is a method of shipping where multiple shippers share space inside of a trailer. Packaged grain products are the best fit for LTL when they’re placed in bags and palletized. Small quantities of grains are shipped on LTLs to save money on unused space if they can’t fill a FTL. LTL shipments are consolidated on a trailer with other shippers’ cargo sharing the route with multiple stops.
FTL is a shipping method that utilizes the entirety of a trailer. Large quantities of grains that fit an entire truck are shipped on FTL. Similar to LTL, this method works best when packaged in bags and palletized. FTL shipments belong to a single shipper and are transported point-to-point transit with no unauthorized stops.
One thing to be aware of as you ship grain is the possibility that it could be prone to spontaneous combustion. Corn is most affected by this phenomenon inside silos during storage, but it can also happen with bulk cargo shipments. The key is to make sure the grain, whatever type it is, is properly aerated so that the grains of corn in the middle don’t overheat and catch on fire.
Our network of 22,000+ carriers are hazmat certified and trained to safely transport your freight.
Flour and refined grain products can be shipped using different methods, such as:
Since the grains are no longer in their original form, they are more susceptible to the elements and need very specific conditions for safe transport. Flour needs to be kept absolutely dry, with no liquids coming into contact with it. For this reason, it can’t be shipped alongside something like vegetable oil or bottled water.
Flour will also absorb any odors it comes into proximity with. Just like any type of grain, the truck it’s shipped in should be completely clean as any remnants from previous deliveries could affect the flour. You should require odor-free equipment from your carrier and verify prior-load compatibility when needed.
Refrigerated equipment can be used when your grains require tighter temperature and humidity control. However, many flour shipments can move safely in a clean dry van trailer.
Improper packaging for your grain can lead to serious health risks. We’ve compiled a few stats on how grains are damaged during transit due to improper packaging.
Hopper bottom style railcars are equipped with covered tops for fumigation throughout transit to avoid gas build-ups.
When you work with USA Truckload to ship your grain freight, we’re happy to competently handle your ground-up grains with the appropriate trailer and equipment to transport your goods safely.
You can ship your grains via intermodal, LTL, FTL, or hopper bottom trailer. Intermodal can connect trucks to rail to move your shipment to its final destination.
For smaller quantities of grain freight, it might be more time efficient and a better value to use a truck for an LTL shipment. For bulk quantities of grains that are headed to big box stores, FTL is preferrable. You get the peace of mind that only your freight is in the truck and it’s going straight to its destination without any stops to accommodate other shippers along the way.
If grains are shipped as dry bulk, it will be transported in a hopper bottom trailer or another bulk-compatible setup. A hopper trailer is a bulk trailer with hopper gates that unload grain by dumping it into a pit or conveyor. This is for easy loading and unloading alike, with the ability to be covered during transport.
Now that you’re well-versed in how to start freight shipping grain, it’s time to reach out to our freight experts at USA Truckload to get the process started. Our experienced team can give excellent care and service to your crops whether they’re heading to grocery stores, storage, or to a processing plant.
When you’re ready to commence freight shipping grain, call us at (866)-353-717 or reach out to our team on our contact page today.
R+L Global Logistics
315 NE 14th St., Ocala, FL 34470
