Meat Transport Brisbane — Chilled and Frozen Meat Delivery Across Queensland

We transport chilled and frozen meat and poultry across Brisbane and Queensland, from a single pallet for a butcher to a full load between a processor and a distribution centre. Chilled meat travels at 0°C to +4°C and frozen at −18°C or colder, with probe temperatures recorded at pickup and delivery.

Meat is one of the less forgiving loads in a cold chain. This page sets out the temperatures, the Queensland accreditation question, how we handle raw product and what to send us for a quote.

Meat and poultry freight we move in Queensland

• Chilled cartoned and vacuum-packed meat on pallets.
• Chilled poultry in cartons or crates.
• Frozen meat and poultry in cartons.
• Packaged retail meat and smallgoods for shops and food service.
• Primal cuts and carcass meat. Tell us how it is packed or hung so we can confirm a suitable vehicle.

Typical customers are butchers, meat wholesalers, processors, smallgoods makers and the restaurants and retailers they supply.

Chilled and frozen meat transport temperatures

The −18°C figure for frozen food comes from the Australian Cold Chain Guidelines, an industry guide. The law says frozen food must stay frozen during transport. Where your customer sets a tighter specification, that is the number we work to. Our article on chilled and frozen transport temperatures explains the difference.

A refrigerated truck holds temperature. It does not pull warm product down. Meat needs to be at its carriage temperature in your chiller or freezer before we load it.

Safe Food Queensland accreditation: check before you book

Queensland regulates meat more closely than most food. Businesses that transport meat in Queensland may need an accreditation from Safe Food Production Queensland, depending on the product and the activity.

Many buyers also ask about HACCP. Our handling routines are HACCP-aligned. HACCP certification is usually a customer or contract requirement, not a blanket legal one. Our guide to food safety questions to ask your carrier lists what to request.

Keeping raw meat clean and separate

Raw meat is treated as a sensitive load. Vehicles are cleaned between sensitive-cargo loads, and raw-meat runs are managed on documented changeover routines.

Packaging does much of the work. Sealed cartons and intact vacuum packs keep product contained. If anything is unwrapped, hung or likely to drip, say so when you book so the load can be planned around it.

Vehicles for meat deliveries, from one pallet to a full load

A refrigerated van carries one pallet equivalent, up to 1 tonne, which suits butcher shop and restaurant drops. Small and medium trucks typically carry 2–4 and 6–10 pallets. Large trucks carry 12–14 and semi-trailers 22–24. The fleet page lists each class.

Meat is dense, so weight often limits a load before floor space does. Refrigerated bodies are also heavier than dry ones. Give us pallet weights as well as the count. For smaller metro consignments, see our refrigerated courier service in Brisbane. Frozen loads are covered under frozen goods delivery.

Where we run refrigerated meat freight

Most meat freight we carry moves within South East Queensland: around Brisbane, west along the Ipswich Motorway to Ipswich, and up the Warrego Highway to Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. Regional Queensland linehaul runs on planned services, and interstate freight is by request.

Delivery temperature checks and getting a quote

Receivers are entitled to reject meat that arrives warm. Under the Food Standards Code, chilled potentially hazardous food should arrive at 5°C or below, and frozen food should be accepted only if it is frozen hard.

We take calibrated probe readings at pickup and delivery and keep them on file. They are available with the proof of delivery on request, which gives you a record if a temperature is ever disputed.

For a meat transport quote, send us:

1. 1Pickup and delivery suburbs.
2. 2Product type, and whether it is chilled or frozen.
3. 3Packaging: cartons, vacuum packs, crates or hanging.
4. 4Pallet count, height and weight.
5. 5The temperature specification and any booked delivery time.