Active Refrigerated Shipper Saves Up to 11 Hours Per Packout

Logistics provider switches to active refrigerated shipping for easier packouts and multiple temperature control options.

The shippers are loaded easily with a forklift, and powered with rechargeable batteries and can manage most trips up to five days, depending on the cargo and ambient temperatures
The shippers are loaded easily with a forklift, and powered with rechargeable batteries and can manage most trips up to five days, depending on the cargo and ambient temperatures

As a high-value transportation logistics provider, Houston-based Omni Logistics serves a variety of industries with ground and air freight around the world.

Omni faced a challenge with a biotech customer that manufactures temperature-controlled reagents in Southern California, while their primary warehouse and distribution center is located in Dallas. The process of shipping is further complicated because two products must move at two different temperatures: -20°C and 6°C.

“Dedicated reefer trucks were too expensive, especially when our client had more than one temperature requirement and considering they typically shipped only a few pallets at a time. Multi-temp LTL reefer options were even more limited, often had too long of transit times, and were not very reliable,” says Jonathan Nasseri, Account Manager at Omni Logistics.

Instead of renting two separate refrigerated trucks, Omni was using dry ice and gel packs to ship the -20°C and 6°C shipments, respectively. “Based on compliance requirements, required transit time, price, and consistent availability, we found our best option was to repack product into [coolers] with gel packs and/or dry ice, depending on the temperature requirement,” notes Nasseri.

The preparation—maintaining the gel packs and then assembling the shippers and packing them appropriately—was extremely time-consuming and wasteful. Though they were round-tripping the containers, the gel packs would only hold up for a couple of trips.

“There was quite a bit of disposable expense in managing that program,” explains Foster McDonald, CEO of Cold Box Express, Inc., a provider of active refrigerated shipping systems. “The customer was growing and moving a lot of product. Using dry ice and gel packs was not sustainable for their needs.”

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