From Air to Infusion: Inside the Last Mile of Cancer Care

Last-Mile Logistics and Oncology Cold Chain Integrity

When cancer care is on the line, logistics isn’t just about movement; it's about accuracy and timing.
Air freight carries critical therapies across continents, but the final miles determine whether those shipments reach the right hands, in the right condition, at the right time.

The article “From Aircraft to Vial: How Air Cargo Keeps Cancer Care Moving” from Air Cargo Week highlights how timing, temperature, and traceability power oncology supply chains at a global scale. But while those international links set the stage, the final leg, aka the last mile, is where therapies truly meet patient care.

Below, we explore how last-mile couriers uphold the same level of rigor and reliability that global carriers apply, bridging the gap between airside logistics and bedside outcomes.

Time-Critical Delivery

In oncology logistics, every hour, even every minute,  can matter. The clock doesn’t stop when a shipment touches down — it starts ticking faster.

The last-mile courier is responsible for ensuring that no time is lost between arrival and administration.

Operational priorities include:

• Aligning pickup times with inbound air and ground schedules

• Using real-time visibility and dispatch tracking

• Maintaining flexible routing for delays or facility holds

• Communicating proactively with clinical teams for readiness

When patients are waiting for treatments or samples are en route to labs, precision routing and proactive communication protect what matters most: outcomes.

Cold Chain Integrity at Every Step

From immunotherapies to precision diagnostics, oncology shipments are highly temperature-sensitive. Maintaining the cold chain doesn’t end at the airport; it extends through every mile of final delivery.

Best practices for last-mile couriers include:

• Preconditioning vehicles and packaging to required temperature bands (2–8°C, 15–25°C, or ultra-cold as needed)

• Using continuous temperature monitoring, not spot checks

• Minimizing dwell time outside controlled zones

• Following clear SOPs for temperature excursions and remediation

Cold chain integrity isn’t a technicality — it’s the safeguard that ensures therapies remain viable when they reach the patient.

End-to-End Traceability and Documentation

The journey from manufacturer to patient involves multiple handoffs, each one requiring visibility and verification. Couriers in this space need more than proof of delivery — they need chain-of-custody certainty.

Key documentation and traceability measures include:

• Timestamped pickup and delivery confirmations

• Secure electronic tracking and signature capture

• Regulatory-compliant labeling and documentation

• Archived records ready for audits or quality assurance reviews

This level of traceability offers reassurance to healthcare providers while reinforcing accountability across the supply chain.

Specialized Handling for Specialized Care

Oncology shipments are not your everyday packages. They require couriers trained and equipped for the nuances of medical logistics.

Critical capabilities include:

• Drivers trained in specimen and therapy handling (i.e., HIPAA and Bloodborne Pathogen certified)

• Vehicles validated for medical-grade transport (clean, temperature-controlled, secure)

• Pre-cleared access and compliance with facility safety protocols

• Emergency backup and reroute planning

Each courier on an oncology delivery route plays a small but vital role in patient care — ensuring therapies and specimens arrive exactly as intended.

Risk Management and Resilience

In oncology logistics, there is no margin for error. A single deviation, whether in temperature, timing, or documentation, can compromise an entire shipment. That’s why resilient last-mile operations build redundancy and responsiveness into every plan.

Key strategies include:

• Secondary vehicles and alternate routes ready as backup

• Constant communication between courier, dispatch, and clinical staff

• Real-time temperature and location alerts for early intervention

• Post-incident documentation and root-cause analysis

Resilience transforms a courier from a delivery vendor into a trusted clinical logistics partner.

Takeaways for Healthcare & Logistics Teams

To ensure smooth, compliant, and patient-centered oncology logistics:

• Engage your courier partner early in the planning process

• Clearly define handoff points and acceptance checks

• Use continuous environmental monitoring throughout transit

• Keep communication open with all stakeholders

• Document exceptions and use them to improve SOPs

When the last mile functions as part of the care continuum, it becomes a seamless extension of the healthcare ecosystem.

Beyond Compliance: The Human Element of Oncology Logistics

The journey of an oncology therapy logistics doesn’t end when it clears customs — it's when it reaches the clinician, laboratory, or patient who relies on it. That final handoff is where logistics meet human care, and where even the smallest detail can have a profound impact.

Understanding why each delivery matters and how critical timing and compliance truly are is the foundation of successful medical logistics. Once that purpose is clear, technology, processes, and resources naturally align. But without genuine care guiding each step, even the most advanced systems fall short.

At Excel Courier, we’ve built our healthcare logistics services to meet those high standards across every mile.

If your organization manages oncology or healthcare logistics and wants to strengthen its last-mile performance, we’d be glad to share insights and best practices.

👉 Contact Excel Courier to learn how dependable last-mile delivery keeps cancer care moving — from air to infusion.