01/09/2026
A quick guide to one of the most avoidable delays in air pharma: the data logger that stops the shipment from flying.
It sounds counterintuitive: the device meant to protect the cargo becomes the reason it's held at acceptance. But the mechanism is simple once you see it.
A temperature data logger contains a lithium battery. That places it under IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, like anything else with a lithium cell. For the logger to be accepted on an aircraft, that battery has to clear specific requirements:
→ UN 38.3 testing — the internationally recognised safety test for lithium batteries
→ compliance with the relevant packing instruction (for most loggers, Section II of PI 970)
→ the correct compliance statement on the air waybill
And here's the point most shippers don't plan for: even when a device is presented as compliant, the final decision to accept it rests with the airline. Acceptance staff can question a device whose certification can't be verified and a questioned device means a held shipment.
This is why a logger chosen on price alone, without documented certification behind it, carries a hidden risk that only shows up at the worst moment: the acceptance counter, with the cargo already there.
What actually prevents it is unglamorous and happens before departure:
→ verify the battery's certification, not just the marketing spec
→ confirm the compliance statement is on the documentation
→ favour devices with a known acceptance record on the carrier you're using
Monitoring the cold chain is essential. The thing worth remembering is that the monitoring device has to clear the same regulatory bar as the shipment it's protecting.
If you work in air pharma: has a logger ever held one of your shipments, and was the cause certification, documentation, or something else?
