Refrigerated LTL: The Advantages of Refrigerated LTL Shipping

When you’re shipping products that need refrigeration, it can be a challenge for even the most seasoned logistics professionals. For many people, shipping products with Less Than Truckload (LTL) carriers can be stressful enough. When you add in a specific temperature requirement, it’s enough to scare people away from the idea of shipping smaller orders at all. Refrigerated LTL is a great solution for many shippers if you understand how it all works. WHY Logistics can help keep you and your products cool with our Refrigerated LTL solutions.

Understanding Refrigerated LTL Solutions

Balancing the cost of shipping refrigerated products and getting them delivered quickly can be struggle. The lack of control that comes with shipping refrigerated LTL can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Building a refrigerated LTL shipping strategy starts with understanding how it works. Many industry professionals use the term “reefer LTL” when referring to refrigerated LTL.

1. Refrigerated Temperatures: Refrigerated trailers can maintain temperatures as low as -20 Fahrenheit. Shipping frozen can mean different things to different people. Ice cream needs to be controlled between -20 F and -10 F. Most other frozen foods, including seafood ship at -10 F to 0F. Meats and dairy products are in the same area in the grocery store, but ship at different temperatures. Meat products ship between 28 F and 34 F, but dairy items ship between 34F and 38F. Each type of produce has its own temperature requirements. Berries need to be maintained between 32F-36F. Bananas and tomatoes ship between 55F-60F. Items such as candy, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals come with a different requirement. Most times these ship between 55F-65F which can be referred to as air-conditioned products. Knowing the requirements of your products is the first step to exploring Refrigerated LTL solutions.
2. Product Safety: Product Safety: There’s more to shipping Refrigerated LTL than just the temperature. Ensuring the sanitary handling of products and proper procedures are essential in shipping your products. The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act outlines the requirements for sanitary transportation. This includes traceability and the proper handling of products. It’s important to make sure transit times don’t impact your products’ shelf life. If your products have a longer shelf life, refrigerated LTL is a great option. Even if your products have short shelf life, refrigerated LTL can still work. The key to this is to find the right partners with the right delivery model. It’s important to ensure your carriers are familiar with what it takes to handle your products safely and get them delivered timely.
3. Seasonal Capacity Challenges: Seasons change and so does capacity. When it comes to total trailer capacity in the United States, Dry Van trailers outnumber Refrigerated trailers about 4 to 1. This means there are fewer refrigerated carriers in the transportation market. Most seasonal trends have a greater impact on refrigerated products. Seasonal volume spikes with products such as produce, and Christmas trees can cause havoc in certain markets. When there are more shipments, but the same number of trucks, rates increase. During the Spring, refrigerated carriers love shipments moving to the Southeast. This is because rates increase for loads coming out of the southeast because there is more produce moving. In the Fall, the same thing happens in the Pacific Northwest with Christmas trees. In seasonal markets like these, one month 8 pallets might ship as truckload and the next month it will ship as LTL. Being able to mode shift from truckload to refrigerated LTL is a great option as truckload rates increase.

Reefer LTL Industry Insights

When it comes to national solutions for Refrigerated LTL, there are very few choices. There are even less one stop solutions that can handle all temperate ranges. Most Refrigerated LTL carriers handle one or two temperature ranges. It’s hard to find a carrier that handles all products from frozen through air-conditioned temperatures. Most refrigerated LTL carriers have limited geographic coverage areas. To cover a larger area, they rely on partner carriers for either first mile pickups or final mile deliveries.

1. National Coverage Challenges: Unlike dry LTL where there are a variety of carriers to pick from, the options when it comes to Refrigerated LTL are few and far between. Why are there so few national solutions? The cost of operating regional terminals is the biggest reason. Maintaining coolers and freezers requires the right building and with that comes a high cost. The other element is the variety of temperature required by customers. These two things lead to the scarcity of national options.
2. Multiple Service Types: To be efficient in the LTL world, driving density is key. This is why so many carriers rely on what’s known as a sailing schedule. Certain retailers or regions are serviced on specific days. To get the most freight on a truck a carrier might need product delivered on a certain day. This allows them to put all freight headed to one area or receiver on the same truck. Carriers use bulkheads to separate the space on a truck between temperature zones. With a bulkhead carriers can deliver frozen and refrigerated products on the same truck. This allows carriers to make the most of a delivery into a single receiver. Other carriers operate on a load to ride model where they load a truck with LTL orders and bypass a delivery terminal. In this model there is less handling, but it comes with a higher cost. It’s important to understand how a carrier operates to ensure their model works for you.
3. Receiver Complexity: Every customer handles things in a way that works best for them. We refer to this a receiver complexity. Most grocery DC’s handle products differently depending on the temperature. Some receive frozen products at night and refrigerated products during the morning. Others have different facilities for different temperatures. In some cases, a receiver might only accept one type of product on a specific day. And others will receive the same product into different departments depending on who orders it. Knowing the requirements of each customer is the best way to set yourself up for success.

Benefits of shipping Reefer LTL with WHY Logistics:

With the complexities that come with shipping refrigerated LTL, you need the right partner. The right partner has established carrier relationships, understands how the carriers work and has partners in all the right markets. The right solution comes from taking the time to understand your business.

1. Experience and Expertise: Our team has experience not just with moving product, but also manufacturing and warehousing it. We know what it takes to ensure temperatures are maintained throughout shipping.
2. Verified Carrier Network: We go beyond the basics of understanding how our carriers operate. For us, taking the time to walk our carrier partners’ docks is a must. This allows us to ensure they’re capable of handling your products the way they should be.
3. Expansive Coverage Area: With the limited national refrigerated LTL options, you sometimes have to get creative. For us, many of the solutions we build out are built on the specific requirements our customers have. With partners in the major transportation markets, we have the ability to provide national solutions.

WHY Choose Our Refrigerated LTL Solutions

There’s a tradeoff between cost savings and more headaches. Refrigerated LTL can drive both unless you’re working with the right people. WHY Logistics has established a well vetted network of refrigerated LTL providers, so you don’t have to navigate this world alone. We make sure our carriers are handling your products the way they should be. At WHY Logistics, we put together refrigerated LTL solutions to make sure you and your products stay cool.