About Larry Willett Expertise Specialist in 3rd Party Warehousing and eCommerce Fulfillment, Generalist in handling, storage and distribution of most products and commodities including Retail Goods, Food Products, and HazMat
Experience 25 years in retail distribution, both private and 3rd party. President of 3rd party logistics provider in Los Angeles for 10 years
Organizations Warehouse Education Research Council, Council of Logistics Management, International Warehouse Logistics Assn.
Expert: Larry Willett Date: 3/28/2007 Subject: coldstorage.
Question I have a bookmarked webpage of warehouse facilities that offer cold, freezer and dry managed space. I was wondering whether you were familiar with the customary modalities/rates/services you can expect in the industry.
My interst is cold storage for perishable commodities. Some services I seek are unloading floor stacked containers and xfering loads from import containers to trucks.
Did you happen to notice warehouse companies to be flexible or require clients to sign long term contracts?
More or less I understand some charge per case in and out.. what one expect to pay on average be it per case per volume or per sqft of refrigerated space?
Lastly what are things to look out for and how can a company protect oneself from theft, mis-management of cargo... do these warehouse companies in particular have an insurance to handle such eventualities? With perishable merchandise refrigeration is required at certain temperatures for certain merchandise.. its kinda delicate... how do you protect yourself if say they put the stuff in the wrong cooler and ruin merchandise... or how about if they forget to put articles in the cooler itself. This all seems like considerable risk since we may not be able to personally overlook operations and mistakes as such can get expensive.
Thanks
Answer Mike
Unfortunately I have no expertise in the cold storage business. I suggest that you contact one of the nationwide suppliers of this service and express your concerns directly to them. All warehouses carry "Warehouse Legal Liability Insurance" to cover losses where they are at fault. The typical responsibility of a warehouseman is to provide the care of a "reasonable man". However this may not be enough to cover you if the warehouse makes a mistake such as a shipping error or damages some product. Each firm may handle these instances differently. Again, survey several suppliers and I am sure they will answer all of your questions.
