Article contributed by Kevin Ahrens is the Vice President of Revenue at Smart Warehousing
What was once a niche segment of the supply chain is now a daily operational reality for brands trying to protect product integrity while managing costs. The food and beverage market size was valued at $8.71 trillion in 2025 and is forecasted to reach $14.72 trillion by 2034, leading to a 6% CAGR that outperforms across the broader industry. With a booming market comes expectations that transportation capabilities scale alongside demand. Yet, cold chain transportation infrastructure hasn’t evolved at the same pace.
Limitations of Cold Transportation
Transportation of perishable goods leaves little room for flexibility. Nowhere is that more apparent than in frozen LTL, where it’s become a unicorn to find. Frozen networks are built around full truckloads, but many brands are shipping fragmented volumes, making partial frozen capacity both scarce and costly. The pressure hits small to midsize brands the hardest, leaving them to choose between paying for unused pallet space, delayed shipments, or reworking their distribution strategy altogether.
This challenge stems from how frozen transportation networks were originally designed. Carriers optimize their operations around full truckloads, where every pallet position is filled and every mile generates its full revenue potential. Partial shipments disrupt that model. As a result, carriers prioritize full truckload moves, leaving limited options for brands shipping just a few pallets at a time.
This impact goes beyond just cost. Limited frozen LTL availability brings longer lead times and greater operational complexity. In many cases, this forces brands to hold inventory longer, consolidate shipments, or accept higher transportation costs to maintain service levels. The reality is that cold transportation networks were not built to support the fragmented, fast-moving shipping patterns that we see in today’s food and beverage market.
Smart Warehousing addresses this gap through Replenishment by Smart (RBS), a model designed to give brands access to full truckloads without requiring full truckload volume. Rather than managing partial frozen LTL shipments on their own, brands can leverage Smart’s network and transportation solutions to move product from our central frozen hub into our coastal warehouses to ensure demand is met. Smart coordinates and books the freight, allowing each customer to strategically position inventory within regional frozen spokes that are closer to the customers they serve. This approach reduces transit cost per pallet and gives growing brands access to a transportation structure that was previously only viable on a much larger scale.
Cold Chain Technology Shift
What if your packaging could see the weather forecast before your shipment ever leaves the dock? That’s the direction cold transportation is heading. Instead of relying on standard dry ice formulas, predictive technology is bringing real-time intelligence into the packing station. Route-based, weather-informed models now evaluate origin and destination data, forecasted temperature swings, and transit timelines before an order is packed.
This means dry ice quantities, insulation configuration, and overall risk exposure are calculated based on the specific transportation journey ahead. A shipment heading into a heatwave is packed differently than one moving through mild conditions. Protection becomes customized instead of generalized.
Overpacking adds unnecessary weight and cost, while underpacking risks spoilage and brand damage. Predictive technology narrows that margin of error by aligning packaging decisions with the actual conditions each shipment will face. Giving teams this visibility to anticipate temperature exposure and prepare each order accordingly allows for better protection and more consistent delivery performance. It also creates lower claim rates and data-backed accountability. In the near future, predictive cold packaging technology will become a requirement that cold brands look for in a 3PL partner.
Reducing Costs in Cold Chain Shipping
Shipping is often the largest cost component of a frozen DTC order, making efficiency critical to long-term profitability. Unlike ambient shipments, frozen and cold deliveries require insulation, dry ice, and greater urgency in transit timing to prevent temperature deviation. The biggest opportunity for cost control comes from optimizing the variables that influence protection and transit performance.
The art of cold chain shipping comes down to using packaging that performs reliably without adding extra material. This creates a balancing act between the need for dependable packaging and low shipping costs. High performing insulation allows shipments to maintain temperature longer, which reduces dependence on excess dry ice and gives greater flexibility across transit zones. Smart Warehousing’s Eco-Shield liner, which has the highest R-value in the market, reflects this principle. With stronger thermal protection built into the standard packaging, shipments remain protected without requiring overpacking. This cold packaging allows brands to maintain product integrity while controlling costs.
The biggest way to bring costs down is by making smarter choices around packaging, volume, and how shipments move. Higher shipping volumes enable discounted parcel rates, while bulk purchasing power lowers the cost of materials like packaging and dry ice. Combined with a distributed warehouse network that shortens transit distances, these efficiencies reduce the cost per shipment without introducing additional risk.
Savings do not come from using less protection; they come from using better protection, supported by the right network and competitive shipping rates. When packaging, location placement, and shipping work together, brands can lower costs while improving product integrity and predictability.
The Role of Network Placement
The saying ‘time is the enemy’ couldn’t be truer in cold chain. The longer a package travels, the greater the risk the product has to being compromised. That’s why multi-node warehouse networks are a strategic advantage. By positioning products closer to the end customer, brands reduce transit miles and significantly lower the risk of product damage. Shorter distances bring tangible benefits. Regional fulfillment enables one to two day ground coverage, which allows orders to travel in smaller boxes with less dry ice, reducing both material costs and waste.
Product placement is a strategic lever that directly impacts performance, especially in cold chain. Brands that design their networks with cold logistics in mind gain a competitive advantage from both a cost perspective and customer satisfaction.
Control is the Ultimate Advantage
Intentionally building structure around every cold chain decision, from packing to delivery, is what transforms cold transportation from a risk into a more controlled outcome. This shift of being proactive is driven by partners that combine purpose-built cold infrastructure, advanced packaging solutions, and data-driven transportation strategies into a unified system. Smart Warehousing is among those setting this new standard, helping brands move beyond transactional fulfillment to engineered cold chain performance. As this industry continues to grow, the question facing every brand is no longer whether they can ship frozen, but whether they truly control how it happens.
Learn more about Smart Warehousing’s solutions for food and beverage brands at www.smartwarehousing.com/food-beverage-fulfillment.
Kevin Ahrens is the Vice President of Revenue at Smart Warehousing, a technology-enabled third-party logistics (3PL) provider with a nationwide network of warehouse locations. In his role, Kevin oversees all revenue-generating functions, including sales, marketing, onboarding, and customer success, ensuring a cohesive strategy that drives sustainable growth and long-term client partnerships. With over a decade in logistics and supply chain, Kevin has helped shape Smart Warehousing’s growth by leveraging operational insights to align warehouse performance, technology, and revenue strategy. Kevin is a strong advocate for modernizing the 3PL model through transparency, scalable infrastructure, and technology-driven visibility, positioning Smart Warehousing as a strategic partner for brands combating today’s supply chain challenges.