How dairy is hauled in Kazakhstan — and why the thermometer at intake is always right

Author: VladislavPublished: 6 September 2026

In short. The difference between +4 and +6 °C inside the body is the difference between five days of shelf life for pasteurised milk and two. The storage temperature printed on the label is binding for the carrier, and the receiving clerk with a pyrometer leans on it when he turns a truck away. And a van's refrigeration unit cannot chill warm cargo — all it can do is keep cold cargo from warming up. Which is why the fate of a batch of kefir is decided at loading, not on the road.

— Your delivery note says zero to plus six, and the pyrometer reads plus nine. Turn around. — a distribution centre receiving clerk, any day of the week

The scene is standard to the point of boredom: a van at a retail chain's dock, the storekeeper opens the doors and points an infrared pyrometer at a pallet — and at large distribution centres a warm truck is even easier to spot, with a thermal camera: an overheated pallet glows as a yellow blotch on the screen. From there, two scenarios. In the first, the pallet goes to the warehouse. In the second — back to the plant, at the supplier's expense, with a rejection report. Arguing is pointless, and it will become clear below why: behind the clerk stands not caprice but the label, and behind the label — a technical regulation.

Let's take apart how dairy logistics works by science and by law, how raw milk differs from finished products, what has to be inside the body — and which van covers all of it at once.

Two degrees that eat half the shelf life

Milk is a nutrient medium in the literal sense: microbiology labs use it as the base for substrates on which bacteria are grown. Everything that got into the package at filling is waiting for one thing only — temperature.

Just how much "only temperature" is has been measured. In 2023 the Journal of Dairy Science published a study with a conclusion worth pinning up in every dispatch office: storage temperature affects the shelf life of pasteurised milk more strongly than the pasteurisation temperature at the plant. In other words, the driver has more influence on the product's lifespan than the process engineer. At +10 °C, spore-forming bacteria of the Bacillus group wake up in milk — the very ones that do not grow at all at +3…+6 °C. An earlier Cornell University study caught the effect on a difference of just two degrees: batches kept at +6 °C spoiled noticeably faster than batches at +4 °C.

In days it looks like this:

A van that holds "only" +10 in summer eats two thirds of the shelf life before the product reaches the shelf. Formally, the goods arrived. In fact, the chain received a product that will go sour in the customer's fridge — and that is rarely forgiven twice.

Raw milk and dairy products are two different cargoes

The words "milk transport" hide two tasks with different regulations and different vehicles.

Raw milk travels from farm to plant, and for it the EAEU technical regulation TR CU 033/2013 spells the numbers out directly, no options: chill to 4 ± 2 °C within two hours of milking (para 20); no more than 36 hours from milking to processing, road time included, and 24 for raw milk destined for baby food (para 21); haul in sealed tanks, and the vehicle must hold the same 4 ± 2 °C (para 26); at intake the plant measures the temperature, and anything warmer than +10 may go only into immediate processing (para 25). Plus a veterinary certificate for every trip (para 12).

That is the world of milk tankers — with its own rituals, like the mandatory wash after every trip. The search query "milk tanker washing" comes from exactly here.

Finished products — pasteurised milk, kefir, sour cream, tvorog (curd), cheese — travel from the plant to the shops, and this is where the confusion starts. TR CU 033 has no direct degrees for them. Many conclude from this: "so anything goes".

It doesn't, and the mechanism is elegant.

The label is not a suggestion

The storage regime for a finished product is set by the manufacturer and printed on the package: "store at 0…+6 °C". And TR CU 021/2011 Article 17 says: transport shall be carried out under the conditions established by the manufacturer. Full stop. Through that article, the line on a kefir carton becomes a binding requirement for anyone who hauls that carton.

So the argument with the thermometer is lost before it starts. The receiving clerk is not inventing requirements — he is reading them off your own label.

For pasteurised dairy that is almost always a range within 0…+6 °C, narrower for some products — +2…+4 °C. Look at the specific package: it is the spec sheet for the trip.

The body through a health inspector's eyes

The same Article 17 of TR CU 021 reads like a spec sheet for the van — point by point:

• the cargo compartment protects the product from contamination, rodents and insects and allows washing and disinfection (para 3). A homemade box with a wooden floor is screened out right here;
• the body must hold the set temperature (para 4) — sandwich panels, and on long legs a refrigeration unit as well;
• the interior surface — washable, non-toxic materials (para 5): galvanised sheet, plated metal, fibreglass. Plywood — no;
• the floor — ribbed aluminium decking, and for dairy this is a mandatory condition: crates and kegs ride wet, the floor gets washed after every shift, and the ribbing keeps the containers from sliding. A wooden or plywood deck soaks up milk and within a month becomes a breeding ground itself — no sanitation log will save it;
• regular washing and disinfection with water of drinking quality (para 6) — at a frequency at which the body does not become a source of contamination. The schedule is kept in a log, and that log is asked for by health inspectors and retail chain auditors alike;
• dairy must not travel mixed with cargo that could contaminate it or pass on an odour (para 2);
• the driver and forwarder in contact with the products undergo medical examinations (paras 10–11).

What happens if you don't bother

The penalty exists, and it is a serious one — Article 425 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Kazakhstan, violation of sanitary requirements and technical regulations. The 2026 MCI (monthly calculation index) is 4 325 tenge:

Under part 2, on top of that — possible suspension of operations and confiscation of the batch.

But in day-to-day work the fine is not the main risk. The main one looks mundane: a return, a second return, and the supplier is quietly switched off from the chain's assortment matrix. No formal report — the orders simply stop coming.

The paperwork that rides with the cargo

1. For raw milk — a veterinary certificate (TR CU 033, para 12).
2. For finished products — a declaration of conformity with TR CU 033; its details are usually entered in the delivery note.
3. A delivery note stating the temperature regime — the key document in a dispute at intake.
4. The body sanitation log — proof of Article 17 para 6.
5. Health certificates for the driver and forwarder, if they are in contact with the products.

There is no separate "sanitary passport for the vehicle" as a permit document in Kazakhstan: the requirements apply to the actual condition of the body, and that is what gets checked.

Insulated or reefer: the route decides, the product has nothing to do with it

The choice comes down to the length of the delivery leg and the time spent unloading.

An insulated van body without a unit holds temperature passively, on its sandwich panels alone. Product loaded at +2…+4 °C from the plant's cold room arrives within tolerance on a 4–6-hour city delivery run even in summer — provided the doors don't stand open for ten minutes at every stop.

A refrigerated body is the same body plus a refrigeration unit with heating mode. It is needed when the route is longer than half a day, the stops are many, and outside it is July in Almaty.

And a separate word about winter, which buyers rarely remember at purchase time. At −15 outside, an insulated body with no heating freezes through over a long trip, and the milk turns to ice inside its packaging: frozen product gets rejected at intake just like overheated product. That is why for year-round work the unit is chosen with a heating mode — for example, Carrier Citimax: one machine holds +2…+6 in summer and warms the body to the same figures in winter.

The practical rule: city work with 1–2 runs a day — an insulated body; intercity, a long day with frequent door openings, summer — a refrigerated body.

A van for dairy — what COND builds

The COND factory in Almaty builds both body types for dairy logistics on any commercial chassis — from the Kia Bongo and GAZelle to mid-tonnage trucks:

• sandwich panels with a hygienic interior lining — galvanised sheet, white plated metal or FRP fibreglass: a washable non-toxic surface exactly per Article 17 para 5;
• ribbed aluminium floor decking — mandatory equipment for a dairy van;
• an airtight body with triple-chamber door seals;
• refrigeration units with heating mode for winter — Carrier Citimax and Elinge;
• side doors for multi-stop delivery — less time with the door open, steadier temperature;
• a full set of manufacturer's documents for the body — for the conversion entry in the vehicle passport.

More: insulated van bodies and refrigerated bodies built by COND.

FAQ

What temperature is milk transported at? Raw milk — 4 ± 2 °C (TR CU 033, paras 21, 26). Finished products — the regime from the manufacturer's label, usually within 0…+6 °C; under TR CU 021 Article 17 it is binding for the carrier.

What rules govern dairy transport in Kazakhstan? TR CU 033/2013 "On the safety of milk and dairy products" — for raw milk, with the figures stated directly; TR CU 021/2011, Article 17 — the body, sanitation, the manufacturer's regime. Both apply in Kazakhstan as EAEU law.

What is vehicle sanitisation for food transport? Regular cleaning, washing and disinfection of the cargo compartment with water of drinking quality (TR CU 021, Article 17 para 6) — at a frequency at which the body does not become a source of contamination. Each treatment is recorded in a log.

What documents are needed to transport dairy products? A veterinary certificate (for raw milk), a declaration of conformity with TR CU 033, a delivery note stating the temperature regime, the sanitation log, health certificates for the crew.

TR CU 033 — what is it? The Customs Union technical regulation "On the safety of milk and dairy products" (EEC Council decision No. 67 of 09.10.2013). It applies across the whole EAEU, Kazakhstan included, and covers transport among other things.

How long can raw milk be hauled? No more than 36 hours from milking to the start of processing at 4 ± 2 °C, road time included; 24 hours for raw milk destined for baby food. If the trip runs longer than allowed (by a quarter at most), the milk may be pre-pasteurised (TR CU 033, paras 21–22).

Why does a milk tanker get washed after every trip? Milk residue is a growth medium for bacteria: an unwashed tank contaminates the next batch, which is directly prohibited by TR CU 021 Article 17 para 6.

Sources

• TR CU 033/2013 "On the safety of milk and dairy products", paras 12, 20–27: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/H13EV000067
• TR CU 021/2011 "On the safety of food products", Articles 17, 30: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/H11T0000880
• Code of Administrative Offences of Kazakhstan, Article 425: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/K1400000235
• Journal of Dairy Science (2023): storage temperature matters more than pasteurisation temperature: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(23)00148-0/fulltext
• Journal of Dairy Science (2015, Cornell): storage at 4 °C versus 6 °C: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26342986/
• FAO: The State of Food and Agriculture — food losses up to the retail stage: https://www.fao.org/state-of-food-agriculture