In the area of transportation, the slumping economy has proved to be both blessing and curse, depending on which side of the deal you're on, says Mark Storen, president of Tectus Consulting.

Those specialized sectors, with their need for strict regulatory compliance and product control, have lagged other industries in the use of third-party service providers. But the picture is beginning to change, says Angela Watson, UPS's vice president of enterprise sales for the healthcare sector.

Rod Derifield, chief executive officer of Envirocooler LLC, outlines some of the new ideas and technology that providers are deploying to boost efficiencies in the movement of temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals.