An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News | Feb. 17, 2016

Susquehanna’s Cold Chain Packing Team named Mission Impact Team of the Quarter

By DLA Distribution Public Affairs DLA Distribution Public Affairs

The DLA Distribution Susquehanna cold chain packaging team has been named Mission Impact Team of the Quarter for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016.

The team successfully received more than 3,400,000 doses of this year’s seasonal flu vaccine. They processed more than 2,300 shipments, equating to approximately 3,800 separate shipping containers. The team also managed the use of 27 refrigerated trucks to complete shipments in a timely and more cost effective manner.

Measurements of the team’s achievements show that not one shipment was compromised. Each shipping container requires explicit protocol compliance, and is calculated out based on quantity of product, size of container required, quantity of frozen gel packs, quantity of chilled gel packs, placement and layering configurations around the product and insertion of a portable temp-tale temperature monitoring device, along with consideration of their destination and their ambient temperatures.

Also included in the teams processing is the timing and scheduling of the actual carrier pickup and delivery. Each shipment is systemically tracked through various carrier websites and concerns are coordinated with those carriers to ensure timely delivery.

The team members collectively have over 165 years of experience in all functions of consolidation and packing. They provide specialized packing and certification for all outbound shipments of material as required.

“Their teamwork and attention to detail in performance of their duties has an impact both within Defense Logistics Agency and throughout the Department of Defense,” said Bryan Ward, DLA Distribution Susquehanna supervisory distribution facilities specialist.

The 12 person team includes: James Earp, Larry Rager, William Hursh, Jason Marcocelli, Bradley Schmick, Gary Reid, Richard Markel, Rodney Conrad, Carl Black, John Kanczuga, Harold Mueller and Marsha Wood.