The Future Development Trend of U.S. Cold Chain

1. American Refrigeration Company

The United States Cold Storage Company (USCS) is one of the five largest public cold storage companies in the United States. After the company was acquired by John Swire & Sons Inc. in 1982, its facilities have increased to 35, and its cold storage capacity has increased to 149 million cubic feet. USCS currently employs approximately 1,400 employees. The company provides regional and national distribution services in different locations in nine states. The company has currently expanded to 205 million cubic feet of storage space, becoming the fourth largest cold storage in the world.

1. C.R.England

CR-England Logistics, as the largest temperature-controlled truck refrigeration transportation company in the United States with a history of 89 years, CR England provides customers with various professional logistics and transportation services. CR England, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, has been leading the American temperature-controlled trucking industry with its excellent reputation and high-quality service since 1957, and it has continued to this day. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the company began a major industrial transformation, expanding from providing customers with temperature-controlled truck transportation services to a full range of international logistics services. Today, the two main branches of CR England-England National and England Global Logistics can provide customers with a full set of third-party logistics services in addition to traditional trucking, including international freight forwarding services with Asia .

1. Albefreight

AbleFreight exports 60,000 tons of cargo by air every year. It is one of the most active freight forwarders in the United States, with import and export business accounting for more than 60% of the total business. Provide temperature control to transport fresh produce (including fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, fresh flowers and dried flowers) as well as medicines and electronic accessories. It is the largest grower and agent of fruits and agricultural products in many countries, including the US government, which is AbleFreight's customers. AbleFreight's warehouse is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is equipped with moisturizing refrigerators, pre-coolers and truck chillers that maintain different temperatures. From receipt to delivery of goods, they are transported by refrigerated trucks to ensure the continuity of the refrigerated refrigeration chain. Use high-quality insulation, cold gel bags and dry ice to ensure that the goods reach their destination in the best condition. At the same time, special services such as pre-refrigeration, re-freezing, quality inspection and re-sorting are also provided.

1. PFS

Pfice Cold Storage is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, USA. Pfice has more than 20 years of experience in cold storage operations. It mainly chooses to develop, design and operate the world's cutting-edge and standardized cold storage in large cities and major port areas. Provide efficient, convenient, and highly value-added frozen storage services, firmly occupy the high-end market of frozen storage, especially the seafood frozen storage market. As one of the largest companies in the global food temperature-controlled warehousing industry, Pfeisi has designed, built and operated 27 advanced cold storage in the United States, and gradually tried global cold chain service operations in Asia, Africa and South America.

Second, the characteristics of the cold chain logistics industry in the United States

1. Huge transportation network Cold chain logistics not only requires temperature, but also time. The complete and convenient transportation network in the United States is an important reason for the development of cold chain logisticsin the United States. Products and services related to the transportation industry account for about 3% of the total economy of the United States, absorbing 1/8 of the employment, which shows that the transportation industry is involved in a wide range. Compared with other Western countries, the development of the automobile industry in the United States is quite early, and the development of many cities in the United States has considered in advance the design of matching cities and residential areas with road networks. In order to connect the vast land, the United States has designed and built high-capacity and high-speed highways. The national transportation system of the United States mainly relies on these highway networks. The most important of these is the construction of the interstate highway system. Relying on these criss-cross highway networks, domestic cold chain transportation is mainly completed by container trucks, which can be delivered within 24 hours within 1,000 kilometers. Among them, the inland river (lake) railway is mainly responsible for the transportation of bulk cargo. There are also public transportation systems in large cities, and regional rail and bus networks extend to Long Island, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, making them one of the largest transportation networks in the world. In addition to roads, the United States has built a transcontinental railroad network to carry goods between 48 states. American cold chain logistics is currently vigorously developing temperature-controlled containers for trains, which is also based on considering the advantages of the railway network. The rail network built by Amtrak traverses 46 of the 48 states and is dedicated to passenger transportation. According to 2007 data, the total length of railroads in the United States is 226,427 kilometers.

1. Details of the division of labor Generally, domestic companies engaged in the cold chain logistics industry will also have self-built related industries, such as sorting, distribution, warehousing, processing, and even maintenance. Different from the domestic package solution, the cold chain division of labor in the United States is very clear. Although it is called the cold chain, each link understands its own responsibilities. The transporter is only responsible for determining the only transportation truck and driver, and the warehouse is only responsible for determining the time The trucks that appear at the only unloading dock are unloaded. The truck rental company is only responsible for providing trucks. The maintenance company is only responsible for emergency repairs based on the call for help. The busiest link in the entire chain is the customer. The customer needs to determine the above companies and the customer acts as an intermediary. The construction of the entire cold chain business. The meticulous division of labor will increase the cumbersomeness to some extent, but at the same time, due to the different division of labor, the professionalism of each division of labor has become very strong, regardless of quality, speed, or technology. The responsibilities of each part have been implemented, so that the entire cold chain can be run with evidence and certification, which greatly improves the operability of cold chain logistics.

1. Integrated application of electronic technology-the mature cold chain logistics of third-party cold chain logistics, on its basis, is still a kind of logistics. Based on years of experience and failures, for example, CREngland has perfectly combined the truck service of fixed assets and the third-party cold chain logistics service of intangible assets. This allows CR England to have enough experience and profits to keep itself Survive in the transportation market with rising fuel and insurance costs. CR England equips each vehicle with global positioning system, network tracking equipment and network billing functions, which can be delivered at the exact time specified by the customer, avoiding the risk of compensation due to the failure to deliver the goods on time for the food company, and becoming its trustworthy Transportation company. CR England now has advanced auxiliary equipment: electronic data exchange, truck satellite positioning system, on-board computer and remote control platform, project management software and a large number of self-developed software. This greatly improves the company's operating efficiency. In addition, CR England also owns a set of TENFOLD programming language, which can complete software with complete intellectual property rights through its own programmers. To promote and expand logistics services for customers, US Refrigeration Corporation (USCS) is also actively developing integrated technology applications. USCS must accurately manage about six billion pounds of temperature-sensitive food receipt, storage and integration orders each year. The company has established a complete warehouse, transportation and information system, which can not only enhance daily operations, but also provide customers with cost savings. Service. The company has always been a major public cold storage company and logistics provider in the United States. Several distribution companies we visited are equipped with advanced safety control and automatic spray systems, forklifts equipped with visual screens (computer terminals), and Containers with refrigerated functions in a wide temperature-related area, as well as automatic forklifts and warehouses, realize seamless docking. These new devices with integrated electronic technology provide safety guarantees for third-party cold chains.

1. Features: High-qualification inspections in the processing and packaging links To ensure that imported and exported goods fully comply with current import and export regulations, companies such as AbleFreight maintain close contact with relevant government agencies, including compliance with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) In order to meet their relevant regulations, arrange inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDepartment of Agriculture) and Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture (LosAngeles County Department of Agriculture), and provide the Food and Drug Administration (Foodand Drug Administration) with complete shipper and manufacturer information to meet their relevant regulations and provide Customs clearance service. During the visit, we learned that AbleFreight has security inspection equipment authorized by the U.S. Customs for import and export goods at the warehouse site, and a job post for FDA commissioners to conduct on-site inspections of the goods. Double insurance to ensure the safety of fresh food. The inspection and quarantine of food is done by logistics and distribution companies, which is a feature of cold chain logistics in the United States. Not all exported food is placed in this company. Every similar company has types that are good at inspection and quarantine. Apply according to these specialties. The inspection rights for certain types of foods that have been received, that is, the foods that have been inspected in such logistics distribution centers can be exported "exempt from inspection". As for exports, the government has arranged FDA monitoring points in the company to monitor and analyze from time to time. This design not only reduces the workload of the customs, but also avoids the deterioration of food in the customs queuing inspection, at the same time increases the speed of food circulation, reduces logistics costs, and also brings benefits to the enterprise.

1. Looking at the development of China's cold chain logistics industry from the American cold chain logistics. The cold chain logistics in the United States has extended from providing transportation, warehousing and other functional services to providing consulting, information and management services, and is committed to providing customers with solutions to improve the value chain , To form a strategic partnership with customers to share risks and benefits. At the same time, the role of the cold chain in manufacturing and other industries should arouse sufficient attention from Chinese manufacturers.

First of all, we must grasp the development direction of the cold chain in order to be competitive in the market. Studying the development trend of the cold chain, analyzing the structure and status of the cold chain in the area, and creating cold chain services are not only related to the development of the logistics industry, but also related to the future regional competitive advantages and deep-seated issues of sustainable development. Therefore, the change of strategy is an important tool for domestic cold chain logistics to win the future.

Second, grasp the development trend of cold chain logistics technology. Information technology is the core technology for the development of modern logistics. The development of logistics information system must be placed at the core, and information is the key element of future logistics competitive advantage. It is generally believed that the essential difference between modern logistics and traditional logistics is that “information” is the first element in modern logistics, and it replaces the position of “transport capacity” as the first element in traditional logistics. Therefore, the development of logistics information technology is the development of cold The backbone of chain logistics.

Finally, the key to cold chain logistics is cooperation. Cold chain logistics involves a wide range of fields and many industries. Everyone knows the concept of cold chain logistics, but there is no specific form and the concept is relatively abstract. From one place to another, if you want a smooth flow of goods and full temperature control, all links must be coordinated. To improve the logistics system, or the development trend of domestic logistics, the most important thing is cooperation and communication, and then effective control. In the entire cold chain logistics process, the efficiency and safety of logistics require all stakeholders to participate and cooperate with each other.

The Article is Written by Guchen Thermo