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Are existing voluntary codes on the carriage of foods and chemicals in tankers enough, or should they be, as some hauliers suggest, toughened with laws?
• There are no laws to prevent fruit juice or cooking oil sold in supermarkets being delivered to the factory in a tanker which has just been carrying corrosive phenol. There are not even any guidelines to tell hauliers how to clean their vehicles between loads.
Now, several large operators, including United Transport Tankers, Wincanton and Tankfreight, are calling on the Government to make the practice illegal or lay down minimum cleaning requirements (CM 19-25 October 1989).
They have already won a part-victory. Due to lobbying by hauliers, the Seed Crushers and Oil Processors Association (SCOPP)'s 12 members have accepted a code of practice banning the use of transport companies which do not use dedicated tankers for edibles.
"The food industry had been coming under increasing pressure to get rid of any threat of contamination, and this was an easy way of doing it," says SCOPA executive secretary Angela Bowden.
CODE OF PRACTICE
Under the code, all hauliers transporting crude and refined oils and fats, destined for human or animal consumption, must use their trucks only for carrying those products or other compatible materials such as additives or preservatives.
All tanks, pipework and pumps must be made of stainless steel. Gaskets and 0rings should be of inert materials. Copper or brass fittings must not come into contact with oil, it says.
On either side of the tank and above the discharge valve the haulier must display a plate saying: "Only for the transportation of foodstuffs or approved compatible products". The driver must present a log of his three previous loads carried, when asked.
Tankers should be cleaned between loads, the code goes on, to prevent cross contamination between different oils and fats. The cleaning history should be part of the log. Two separate wash bays should be available: one for edibles, the other for non-edibles.
Haulers have been "100% supportive" in the drawing up of the code, which took effect in November last year, says Bowden. The threat of contamination to its members' products, mainly edible oils, has been quashed.
However, it still does not cover bottlers or packagers of these goods. They are not members of SCOPA and are free to use operators who mix edibles and chemicals. And, like all codes of practice, it is self-regulatory and lays down no punishment for those who don't comply.
Consumer laws on product liability make most food producers wary of using hauliers which are anything less than scrupulous when it comes to cleaning tankers and separating foods and chemicals.
Most suppliers and customers of foods, such as the Milk Marketing Board, Nestle and United Biscuits, demand dedicated tankers or strict cleaning procedures in their contracts with road operators, says Tony Cook, the Road Haulage Association's controller of dangerous substances and bulk materials.
Regulations imposed by industry itself Lake the place of laws, he adds. Although there is a case for standards in legislation, the Government lacks the resources to police these.
Many of the big operators insist they never carry foods and chemicals in the same vehicle. The risk of contamination is too great as tanks can never be properly cleaned after carrying chemicals, says Paul Robinson of S Jones.
Small operators, however, must find it tempting to mix loads from one trip to the next, says John Seddon, operations manager of United Transport Tankers, which claims to be the UK's biggest carrier of edibles and runs separate fleets for foods and chemicals. The most extreme example would be moving from phenol, a highly-corrosive substance used in the making of fibre glass, to edible oil, he says. "You would have to wash the tanker between loads, but the product could be retained in the valves and when it gets cold it crystallises into a waxy solid."
Although acids and poisons are usually carried in separate rubber-lined, rather than stainless-steel tankers, other products, such as methanol and edibles, are regularly mixed.
Even if operators clean their vehicles, there is a chance washing equipment might be faulty. This would mean deposits being left in the tank. "If you deliver 3,000 litres, it's likely there's going to be the odd pint at the bottom," says Seddon.
Although Wincanton runs segregated fleets, many spot-hire haulier with multicustomer activities do not, say its director of transport services Alastair Elder. "Legislation would help the industry all the way through by heightening quality."
Many claim the problem is worse on international journeys, where hauliers on a trip to, say, Spain, take whisky out and fruit juice back. Although both edibles, alcohol is considered a chemical.
However, checks on the Continent are much tougher than the UK, says Mike McClelland of Samas Overseas, which regularly carries chemicals to Spain, bringing back edible oil on the return journey. "There is no way you could get out of Spain with edibles, carrying traces of toxic chemicals."
INTERNATIONAL WORK
He plans to buy 48,000-litre, fourcompartment tankers for international work, to replace his 33,000-litre singlecompartment fleet. These will speed turnarounds and decrease the risk of contamination, he claims.
"We will be able to go out with chemicals in the outer compartments, and come back with edibles in the inside ones, without having to washout. We'll lose two tonnes from our existing 22-tonne payload and they'll cost £47,000 instead of £40,000, but we'll win customers by selling a dedicated service."
Carrying foods and chemicals in the same tanker is not always a bad thing, provided the tank is cleaned properly, says Pat Healy of Tankclean, which claims to be the UK's largest network of commercial vehicle wash stations.
Many chemicals used in the food industry, such as acids and colourings, can be carried in chemical tankers, if they are cleaned between loads, he says. Healy wants legislation to force hauliers to seal tanks after cleaning, opening them only for loading Dedicating tankers to edibles would up the price of food and, although current' codes of practice are voluntary, they are comprehensive, he says. Most careful operators with small fleets can carry both.
WHO CARES?
There is some confusion over which Government department would actually be responsible for administering laws on the carriage of foodstuffs. The Department of Transport says it is responsible only for the safety of the vehicles.
The Health and Safety Commission monitors the welfare of employees and the safety of hazar dous goods movements. Trade and Industry simply regulates the selling of consumer products, such as the carton of fruit juice.
The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, normally responsible for standards in food production, says the Department of Health, which usually comes into the fray only if there is a public health risk, holds the remit under the Food Hygiene and Market Stores and Deliveries Regulations.
In America, federal legislators are keen to stamp out back-hauling of food in chemical tankers which have not been properly cleaned. This follows allegations that in one state, plastic resin, asphalt, formaldehyde and engine oil were being alternated with orange juice, whisky, wine and kosher oil. Truck company employees have testified before a Congress committee that their boss told them to keep quiet about what they were carrying, and to mask giveaway smells with a strong industrial deodorant.
Congressmen heard about one incident where a load of orange juice had mixed with the previous contents of the tank, sodium petroleum sulfomate. There was a black layer on top of the juice and fruit flies were floating in it. But several truckers defended the practice of disciplined back-loading. Clifford J Harvison of the 200 member-strong National Tank Truck Carriers said just one incident of contamination being traced to a dirty truck or bad operational practices would render his members' careers worthless.
Congressmen, however, are considering quick-fire legislation to outlaw the carrying of garbage in reefer trucks usually used to transport food. This follows revelations that refuse from the crowded East Coast cities is being back-hauled to tips in the Mid West in beef trucks.
by Murdo Morrison