How to Book Refrigerated Transport: A First-Timer's Checklist

To book refrigerated transport, give the carrier the pickup and delivery addresses, what the product is, the temperature it must travel at, how much there is and what it weighs, when it will be ready, when the receiver can take it, and a contact at each end. Then have the product at temperature, wrapped and labelled before the truck arrives.

That is the whole job in two sentences. The rest of this guide takes each step in order, with checklists you can work through before your first booking.

What a carrier needs to quote

A quote is only as accurate as the details behind it. Send all of these at once and you avoid a day of back-and-forth.

Not sure what vehicle that adds up to? Our guide to what size refrigerated truck you need converts pallets into vehicle classes. If you only have a pallet or two, read about part-load refrigerated pallet freight.

How much notice to give

There is no universal lead time, so be wary of anyone who quotes one without asking about your freight. The general rule is simple: more notice gives you more choice of vehicle and delivery time, and a better chance of sharing a run with other freight.

If you will be sending freight every week, ask whether it can be set up as a standing schedule instead of booking each job separately. The run is planned in advance and you stop re-sending the same details. Urgent jobs are a different service; see how a same-day refrigerated courier in Brisbane works.

Preparing the product before pickup

Refrigerated vehicles are designed to maintain the temperature product is loaded at, not to cool it down. The Australian Cold Chain Guidelines say product must be at temperature before loading. Work through this list before the truck is due:

• Get it to temperature early. Chilled food at 5°C or below; frozen food frozen hard, with −18°C or colder the industry guide. Freshly packed or freshly frozen product needs time in your cool room first.
• Probe it and write it down. Food businesses handling potentially hazardous food must have a thermometer accurate to ±1°C. Record the product temperature and time before the driver arrives.
• Keep it in the cool room until loading. Do not stage pallets on a warm dock to save a few minutes.
• Pack for airflow and handling. Sound cartons, stable stacks, nothing overhanging the pallet, and pallets in good condition.
• Wrap each pallet. Stretch wrap from the pallet base up so the load cannot shift.
• Label every pallet. Receiver name and delivery address, your business name, number of pieces, and the required temperature (for example “Keep chilled 0–4°C” or “Keep frozen”). Mixed chilled and frozen orders must be clearly separated and marked.
• Prepare the consignment details. Sender, receiver, addresses, contacts, description of goods, piece count, weight, required temperature, and any purchase order or delivery reference the receiver needs.

What happens on pickup day

1. 1A pre-cooled vehicle arrives. We pre-cool the vehicle before loading so product is not going into a warm box.
2. 2The driver probes the product. A calibrated probe reading is taken and recorded at pickup. If product is over temperature, this is when it is found.
3. 3Freight is loaded for airflow. Product stays below the load line and clear of the air outlets so cold air can circulate.
4. 4Doors are closed promptly. Door time is kept short, particularly in a Queensland summer.
5. 5You get an update. Dispatch sends SMS or email updates at pickup, in transit and at delivery. See job updates for how that works.

Delivery and proof of delivery

Under Food Standards Code Standard 3.2.2, a food business receiving potentially hazardous food checks that chilled product arrives at 5°C or below and that frozen product is frozen hard, not partly thawed. Food between 5°C and 60°C can only be accepted if the transporter can show the time and temperature were safe. Otherwise the receiver must not accept it.

Expect the receiver to probe a sample, note the time and temperature, and check the delivery against their order. Once they sign, that signature with the date and time is your proof of delivery (POD).

Your Chain of Responsibility duties as the consignor

When your goods travel by heavy vehicle, the Heavy Vehicle National Law treats you, the consignor, as a party in the Chain of Responsibility. You have a duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the safety of your transport activities. In plain terms:

• Declare weights accurately. Do not round down. The carrier plans the vehicle around your figure.
• Do not set deadlines that need speeding or skipped rest. If a delivery time is not achievable legally, change the time.
• Load safely. If your staff load the vehicle, pallets must be stable and restrained as the driver directs.
• Do not hold drivers up. Long waits at your dock eat into legal work hours.

Common first-timer mistakes

• Booking the truck for the time production finishes, leaving no time to chill the product.
• Guessing the weight, or giving carton counts without pallet numbers.
• Not checking the receiver's hours or whether they need a booked time slot.
• Leaving out access details such as no forklift, a low awning or a residential street.
• Unlabelled pallets, or chilled and frozen stock mixed on one pallet.
• Writing “cold” as the temperature. Give chilled or frozen, and the set point if you have one.
• Giving a contact number that nobody answers at pickup or delivery time.
• Keeping no temperature record of your own before handover.

What to do next

Copy the table into an email or note and fill in every row for your freight. Then send it through our quote form. If you are unsure about the temperature or vehicle, say so in the message and we will work it out with you.