Hello Cold Chain Colleagues,
As we close out Q3, I’m excited to share key developments across US Cold. Our commitment to sustainability, operational efficiency, and strategic expansion continues to drive our success and help us be a better partner for our customers.
One of the most exciting projects this year is our food waste and sustainability program, which will have every one of our facilities involved by the end of the year. We’re leading this effort not only within US Cold but throughout the industry via our connection with the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) where we are sharing knowledge with partners and competitors for the betterment of our planet.
Since I can remember, the primary methods of disposing of food waste mostly included burying it in landfills or burning it, contributing to environmental problems. These approaches, while once considered standard, were not without consequences. They released harmful gases into the atmosphere and took up valuable space, impacting ecosystems and local communities.
However, thanks to the incredible dedication and effort of our team, as well as recent technological advancements, we’ve discovered far more sustainable solutions. Today, some food waste at US Cold is no longer destined for landfills or incinerators.
Instead, it is being diverted to compost, animal feed or anaerobic digesters, which break down the waste material in a controlled environment. This process not only reduces the volume of waste but also converts it into methane gas, a resource that can be captured and used to generate renewable, clean power.
This transition represents a huge leap forward in our environmental stewardship. The methane that would have otherwise contributed to greenhouse gas emissions is now harnessed for energy, dramatically reducing our carbon footprint. Beyond cutting harmful emissions, this shift aligns with our broader sustainability goals along the supply chain. It marks a key milestone in our ongoing commitment to making our operations greener and more eco-friendly, reflecting the company’s focus on long-term environmental impact. It’s a powerful reminder that innovation in any area can lead to meaningful change, benefiting the entire supply chain and the planet.
On the operational front, we’ve achieved significant milestones in automation. Our Lake City, FL, facility recently opened its first fully integrated automated expansion, marking a major step forward in enhancing efficiency and standardizing best practices in cold storage automation. This facility exemplifies our commitment to creating scalable, repeatable solutions that set the benchmark for both cold chain automation and quality. I’m excited to share that we have three more facilities of this design currently under development.
One of the most significant announcements this quarter is our planned expansion into the Southern California market. Next year, we’ll break ground on a state-of-the-art, fully automated warehouse that will hold up to 200,000 pallets. This facility will feature all of our latest cutting-edge technology, have direct access to a rail-connected intermodal yard, which will serve as a major gateway to the Port of Los Angeles.
This project will become our key hub for serving Southern California and further enable the expansion of our industry leading consolidation and distribution capabilities.
I also want to highlight the momentum we’ve seen across the cold storage industry. At the most recent GCCA meeting—one of the highest-attended ever—it was clear that our industry is on the move, with new developments and innovation driving growth. It’s exciting to see how much is happening, from organic growth to new entrants and the adaptation of technological advancements.
US Cold remains at the forefront, leading through innovation and adaptability. As we head into Q4, our focus will remain on driving sustainability initiatives, expanding our automated footprint, and continuing to enhance our operational efficiency. With so much happening—from food waste programs to major facility expansions—I’m confident we’re well- positioned to finish the year strong and set ourselves and our customers up for even greater success in the future.
Here’s to a fantastic finish to the year!
Larry Alderfer | President & CEO
Best in Cold
USCS Covington wins Unilever “Warehouse of the Year” award for second consecutive year.
It’s no secret that winners keep their cool even when circumstances turn up the heat. That’s exactly the story of USCS Covington, TN, one of four refrigerated warehouses storing frozen ice cream and novelties for Unilever North America. Last year, when one of Unilever’s other partners experienced service issues, USCS Covington stepped up to fill the void—all while maintaining its own exemplary day-to-day performance.
And those factors helped USCS Covington earn Unilever’s 2023 “Warehouse of the Year” award —not only for the third time but also in back-to- back years (2022 and 2023).
“For the second consecutive year, Covington led the way for Unilever’s ice cream distribution center network,” said Aaron Sanner, Associate Director Warehouse Logistics, Frozen Network North America at Unilever.
In a note to USCS officials, Sanner added, “Your dedication to our service, customers and carrier partners was exemplary. Together we exceeded targets across the board, and Covington outperformed the network in many key areas in which we partner together day in and day out. Moreover, Covington stepped up to support our business when we experienced significant challenges elsewhere in our network. We would not have had a successful 2023 season if not for the efforts of [USCS Covington General Manager] Matt [Hughes] and his crew.”
For the record, USCS Covington is an automated warehouse/distribution center built in 2015 and attached to Unilever’s own ice cream manufacturing facility. Throughout the year, Unilever evaluates all four of its distribution centers by as many as 10 key performance indicators including safety recordable incidents, on-time shipping and inventory accuracy. In 2023, Covington scored first in seven areas and second in the other three categories.
“We have proven ourselves a consistent partner and this relationship has continued to bring additional business to Covington by servicing a larger portion of the Unilever customer footprint each year,” says Matt Hughes. “Covington leads the network in many areas and it is all thanks to team on the floor and their commitment to servicing such a great customer. Our supervisors and hourly employees are the best in our network and I would put them up against anyone in our company or industry.”
Unilever and USCS officials treated those employees to a celebration in mid-August.
Joining Sanner were Rob Lewis, Unilever Head of Logistics North America – Frozen, International Logistics & Repacking; and Jarrod Taylor, Unilever Distribution Warehouse-Multi Site Manager.
“We had a dinner for all employees and it featured several ‘thank you’ speeches. We also gave out hoodies, poker chips and playing cards with our companies’ logos positioned back to back,” says Hughes. “This was done to ensure everyone knew that they could bet on Covington to come through when needed.”
He concludes, “Unilever is a real partner and we want to help with issues that come up in the business. We find ourselves on the same page when facing issues. This alignment helps so much when overcoming adversity.”
Coming to a Market Near You
USCS expands, automates for coast-to-coast capacity demand.
There’s a saying that to have a friend—you need to be a friend. Translated to the worldof third-party refrigerated warehousing, it means to have valued partners, you need to be an active partner and literally be willing to invest in the relationship.
That’s exactly what United States Cold Storage is doing with coast-to-coast construction projects including one greenfield facility and five additional expansions.
“We have six construction projects in the works—all driven by our customers’ growth,” notes David Carr, USCS Vice President of Business Development. “This speaks volumes about the type of partners we have in our network.”
He adds, “Although most of the expansions and new builds have anchor tenants, not all the space will be occupied. We are now able to bring additional space to markets— including the Midwest, Northeast and California—that traditionally have been very tight on capacity. Another exciting aspect about most of these expansions is that they bring even more, proven automation into our network.”
MIDWEST
Hebron, IN
New Construction (Phase 1)
Opening October 2025
Size: 13.6 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 43,421 rack slots
Dock: 24 doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen, AS/RS, Very Narrow Aisle automation/storage
Lebanon, IN*
Expansion (Phase 3)
Opening June 2025
Size: 5.2 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 17,534 additional rack slots
Dock: 7 additional doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen, Very Narrow Aisle automation/storage
*Attached to 114,000-sq.-ft. food processing facility
WEST
Tulare North, CA
Expansion (Phase 5)
Opening November 2024
Size: 8.5 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 29,644 additional rack slots
Dock: 22 additional doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen, Frozen-Ice Cream
McClellan Park, CA
Expansion (Phase 3)
Opening Fall 2025
Size: 7.5 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 27,000 additional rack slots
Dock: 18 additional doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen; Very Narrow Aisle automation/storage
NORTHEAST
Bethlehem, PA
Expansion (Phase 4)
Opening September 2026
Size: 7.6 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 23,436 additional rack slots
Dock: 16 additional doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen, Frozen-Ice Cream, AS/RS, Automated Layer Pick
SOUTHEAST
Lake City, FL
Expansion (Phase 3)
Opening July 2024
Size: 5.5 million cubic feet
Warehouse: 16,435 additional rack slots
Dock: 12 additional doors
Temps / Features: Refrigerated, Frozen
Make the BEST Decision
USCS Logistics’ COLDshare Consolidation makes outbound transportation easy, economical.
Let’s face it. Daily logistics and transportation management involves hundreds of small questions and considerations. Yet it’s often wise to step back and consider some bigger questions—ones that come with much more substantial impacts.
For example, it may be easy for food shippers to find carriers when there’s market capacity and carrier rates are depressed. Yet is that the most effective choice? The truth is most shippers do not have the volume to fully utilize trailer capacity and must pay for empty space that remains on a shipment. Many LTL carriers pick up once a one week and not deliver until the following week while product is moved from one trailer to another through a cross-dock terminal. This extra handling of product brings more potential for product damage or loss, which is even more troubling for temperature sensitive product. Moreover, a perceived cheaper rate ultimately can become a more costly overall choice once all accessorial fees are calculated for fuel, detention, unloading and layovers.
Interestingly, United States Cold Storage not only is a leading national public refrigerated warehouse operator but also a proven transportation provider with more than 50 years’ of multi-customer LTL consolidation experience.
In contrast to the broad LTL market, USCS’s COLDshare Consolidation program partners with larger, medium and small carriers nationwide and offers set sailing schedules involving direct pick-up and delivery straight to the customer’s customer dock typically in one or two days (with no extra handling).
Ultimately, USCS COLDshare Consolidation program also can be more economical because shippers not only share truck costs but all accessorial costs. The reduced handling of freight along with maximizing trailer utilization keeps shipment cost lower for those who participate while at the same time saving additional cost for accessorial charges as those costs are not burdened by one shipper alone. By leveraging USCS’s consolidation program, food manufacturer- shippers can minimize the risks associated with freight pricing volatility and carrier capacity constraints.
Smarter Processes, Programs & People
The adage is to always work smarter—not harder. USCS Logistics has demonstrated by investing in best-in-class technologies and freeing up its logistics analysts to focus on more proactive, impactful customer solutions.
USCS’s transportation systems—centered around MercuryGate TMS—streamlines and optimizes all transportation and supply chain processes through route optimization, load consolidation, and freight invoice audit and payment. Moreover, USCS offers real-time, end-to-end tracking of shipments as well as the ability to view, analyze, and predict a shipments journey.
USCS also integrates robotic process automation (RPA) software with artificial intelligence agents or software robots to automate certain business processes. RPA can perform data entry, transaction processing, and report generation, faster and more consistently than humans. In turn, this frees up USCS Logistics’ analysts to focus on bigger, proactive customer supply chain matters.
USCS takes this to new levels with SmartMove, a proprietary, machine learning powered algorithm that incorporates real world data (traffic conditions, facility loading and unloading time histories and other data) to optimize routing and provide each unique shipment the greatest chance of successful on time delivery.. This powerful program reduces capacity needs by better utilizing individual trailer capacity, improves on time delivery, by providing information for proper scheduling while freeing up USCS’s planners and logistics managers time—to look for better, more proactive ways to solve customer issues.
Learn more about how our COLDshare Consolidation Program
Moving Forward—Face to Face
USCS Human Resources summit showcases strategy, solutions and best practices.
With a big company comes big responsibility. No one takes that more seriously than USCS’s Human Resources team, which helps more than 4,200 employees at 40 facilities in 13 states coast to coast.
The group held its biennial HR Summit earlier this spring in Austin, TX, and gathered nearly 70 HR professionals companywide for two and half days of networking, presentations and open discussions.
“We have four strategic objectives and developed an agenda with sessions that underscored each one,” says Michelle Grimes, Senior Vice President, Human Resources. “Our sessions were crafted not only to inform but also to inspire. We want to give our HR leaders insights to stay at the forefront of industry trends and best practices.”
“This dedication to continuous learning and professional development underscores USCS’s commitment to delivering exceptional support and guidance to our Cold Crew,” she adds. “Ultimately, it ensures that we remain agile and responsive to the evolving needs of our workforce.”
Grimes notes Human Resource’s role is to serve a “business partner” and help grow USCS’s operations at local, regional and national levels. Meanwhile, HR strives to cultivate employee experience; promote and encourage a diverse and inclusive culture; and build and promote USCS’s best practices. The resulting agenda featured nearly 20 sessions including a company update and open discussions about organizational structure, job titles and regional challenges. Targeted presentations addressed HR labor laws, compensation, benefits, retention, safety and USCS’s HR Information System.
Still more topics included corporate social responsibility, teambuilding and a discussion of “unconscious bias.”
USCS’s HR reps also enjoyed the in-person opportunities.
“My biggest takeaway was being able to meet everyone one-on-one,” said one professional. “It truly makes a difference when building meaningful connections in person with everyone you work with on a daily basis.
Essentially, it better helps us become family. It made me feel very proud to belong to USCold as everyone truly cares and takes care of one another with love.” “Being able to interact with everyone [was a favorite take-away],” said another HR representative. “Learning and hearing things in person is completely different from online.”
Nicole Janeczek, Vice President of Human Resources, says she’s encouraged by USCS’s evolving, team-based HR program.
“Our HR Summit is team development that helps to create a culture of continuous improvement and a shared vision,” she says. “In the end however, having the opportunity to meet, know, and develop friendships with all of these incredible HR professionals is the most rewarding.”
Welcome to Minooka, IL
USCS gives SHIELD readers an inside look at operations within its coast-to-coast network.
With 40 warehouses nationwide, United States Cold Storage handles a wide variety of the nation’s refrigerated and frozen foods – products purchased at grocery stores and restaurant tables both here in the United States and around the world.
Every day, these warehouses safely receive, store and ship a wide range of items—from vegetables to value-added seafood and ice cream to entrées. Accordingly, these USCS facilities and accompanying logistics programs accommodate everything from imports and exports to daily, nationwide shipments of less-than-truckload orders. In the end, every USCS site is unique and reflects both its customer and product demands.
USCS Minooka Leverages Location, Excels in Warehousing
Location. Location. Location. As it happens, the key adage in real estate and land also applies to logistics.
Located just one hour southwest of Chicago, USCS Minooka, IL, is a warehouse not only with easy regional reach to other Midwest cities (Madison, Milwaukee, WI; Indianapolis) but is also a strategic staging point for COLDshare less-than-truckload shipping to all other regions of the United States.
For the record, this 22.1 million-cubic-foot operation offers 73,000 racked pallet positions (temperatures from -20ºF to 0ºF), 76 dock doors, import-export handling, rail and repack services. It’s also known for much more than just its location.
Minooka stands out as a beacon of excellence in the cold storage industry. I am incredibly proud of the dedicated team and the state-of-the-art operations that make Minooka a leader in cold storage and transportation.”
Matt Reed
General Manager, Minooka, IL
USCS Minooka just won 2023 “Warehouse of the Year” honors from Gorton’s seafood.
Meanwhile, the BRCGS-certified operation also stands out within USCS as well— especially in areas of automated efficiency, safety and sustainability.
It boasts a 26,000-pallet automated addition that enhances overall capacity and throughput. It also employs cascade layer pickers to streamline the case-picking process, reduce manual labor and improve safety. Speaking of safety, USCS Minooka last year reached one million hours without a lost-time accident and has proudly taken first place honors in 2022 and 2023 in USCS’s own internal safety competition.
In the area of sustainability, USCS Minooka has recycled corrugate and shrink wrap for more than a decade. It also participates in ComEd’s energy credit rebate program to reduce energy consumption.
Elevate Safety
USCS’s third annual Safety Summit takes learning, leadership to new heights.
USCS hosted its third Safety Summit in early August. To take its industry leading safety program to even greater heights, the company developed three full days of learning and leadership discussion. Moreover, it literally elevated its program and hosted the summit in Broomfield, CO, outside Denver. Last but not least, USCS representatives also spent one full day at the American Society of Safety Professionals’ (ASSP) annual conference and expo in Denver, a gathering of more than 8,000 safety professionals.
USCS hosts its Safety Summit every two years. Attending this year’s event were approximately 60 USCS professionals from facilities coast to coast. Participants included TQS supervisors, site safety specialists, regional safety managers, regional engineers, general managers, senior vice presidents, corporate safety leaders and food safety specialists. Also joining in was Ian Offland, the safety leader for John Swire & Sons’ private companies.
USCS’s own two-day agenda covered more than 13 topics including OSHA’s National Emphasis Program Audit, emergency response planning, contractor screening and safety, rack inspections, employment law, workers compensation, sustainability, and training for powered industrial truck trainers. At the ASSP event (Wednesday) USCS representatives attended sessions, visited an expo floor and started the day with an opening keynote presentation (“Empower Your Teams with Positive Accountability”) from Dr. Jessica Kriegel, Culture Partners’ Chief Scientist for Workplace Culture.
We had a great meeting all around. In a post-event survey, our attendees talked about how much they appreciated networking and team building within our group. Others also commented on how all the presentations helped them expand their knowledge of safety.”
Lisa Battino
VP, Compliance & Safety
