Freight consolidation combines shipments from several suppliers into one trailer headed to the same destination. For frozen food brands that ship a few pallets at a time, it's one of the most direct ways to lower the cost of reaching retail distribution centers before you have enough volume to fill a truck on your own.
This guide is for frozen food manufacturers and brands whose orders don't fill a trailer. That includes suppliers already shipping LTL who are watching freight costs eat into margin, and brands that just landed their first retail order and are working out how product will get to the retailer's distribution center.
Coldstream Logistics provides frozen LTL, retail and Walmart consolidation, and refrigerated trucking for food manufacturers, brands, and commercial shippers.
Quick Summary
Freight consolidation is the practice of combining smaller shipments from multiple suppliers into one full trailer bound for the same destination, such as a retail distribution center. Each supplier pays for the share of the trailer its pallets use, and the retailer receives one scheduled delivery instead of several separate ones. For frozen food, the consolidation provider also keeps every pallet at its frozen set point from pickup through staging to delivery.
How Freight Consolidation Works
Freight consolidation works in four stages. Suppliers ship their pallets to a consolidation point, the freight waits there in temperature-controlled staging, the provider builds full loads by destination, and each load delivers to the distribution center on one appointment.
Stage 1: Suppliers Ship to a Consolidation Point
Each supplier sends its pallets from the plant or its cold storage warehouse to a consolidation point, usually a cold storage facility the consolidation provider partners with. This inbound leg often moves as frozen LTL. Our team at Coldstream schedules these pickups so each supplier's freight arrives in time for the outbound load it's assigned to.
Stage 2: The Freight Waits in Temperature-Controlled Staging
The facility receives each pallet, checks it against the order, and holds it at temperature until the outbound load is ready. Pallets from different suppliers sit in the same frozen staging area, each tracked separately. Our partner facilities operate the buildings, and our team coordinates with them on receiving dates, staging, and load timing.
Stage 3: The Provider Builds Loads by Destination and Delivery Window
The consolidation provider groups pallets going to the same distribution center on the same delivery window into one trailer. Product also has to share a temperature set point to ride together. Our team plans each load around the destination's delivery requirements, including the must-arrive-by date (MABD) on Walmart freight, which is the date the retailer requires the freight to arrive.
Stage 4: One Trailer Delivers on One Appointment
The full trailer runs to the distribution center and delivers on a single scheduled appointment. The receiving dock unloads one truck instead of taking a separate delivery from each supplier. Large retailers such as Walmart run consolidation programs for their suppliers for this reason: fewer trucks at the dock and more predictable inbound freight.
Get Your Frozen Pallets on a Managed Retail Load
Coldstream's retail consolidation programs combine frozen freight from multiple suppliers and deliver it to major retail distribution centers on scheduled appointments.
How Consolidation Lowers Your Freight Cost
Consolidation lowers freight cost because suppliers share one full trailer. Moving pallets together on one truck costs less per pallet than moving each supplier's pallets as a separate shipment.
The savings come from four places:
- Shared linehaul: Linehaul is the long-distance move from the consolidation point to the distribution center. On a consolidated load, each supplier pays for its share of that trip.
- Fewer handling transfers: Standard LTL freight typically passes through several carrier terminals on the way to its destination, and each transfer adds labor and time. A consolidated load moves from staging onto one trailer and runs to the distribution center.
- One delivery instead of several: The distribution center schedules one appointment for the whole load. Each supplier avoids booking, and paying for, its own separate delivery.
- Fewer retailer fines: Retailers such as Walmart score suppliers on whether freight arrives on time and complete, and late or short deliveries can trigger chargebacks. A consolidation program built around delivery windows reduces late arrivals. Our OTIF guide for Walmart suppliers explains how that scoring works.
What Affects How Much You Save
How much a supplier saves depends on its freight profile. The biggest factors are how many other suppliers ship to the same distribution centers, how steady the supplier's volume is from week to week, which lanes it ships, and whether it ships year-round or seasonally. A supplier whose freight lines up with an existing program's destinations and schedule usually sees the most benefit.
Frozen freight pricing is customized to each shipper. Our team at Coldstream builds a rate package around your network, volumes, and delivery requirements, and we walk you through how each piece of it is priced.
"Consolidation is how a brand doing ten pallets a week gets rates that used to take forty. You're sharing space on the trailer with other suppliers, but your freight is still tracked pallet by pallet, so you're not sharing the risk."
— Heather Browne, Vice President, Coldstream Logistics
Multi-Vendor Consolidation vs. Standard LTL vs. Pool Distribution
Multi-vendor consolidation, standard LTL, and pool distribution all move freight that takes up less than a full trailer. They differ in how the freight is grouped, where it goes, and how it's delivered.
Multi-Vendor Consolidation
Multi-vendor consolidation, also called vendor consolidation, combines freight from several suppliers into one load headed to one destination. The provider decides which suppliers' pallets ride together based on destination, delivery window, and temperature requirement. Retail consolidation and the Walmart Consolidation Program are both forms of multi-vendor consolidation.
Standard LTL
Standard LTL (less-than-truckload) is the general freight model. A carrier picks up individual shipments from many customers, sorts them through a network of terminals, and delivers each shipment to its own receiver. Most general LTL networks are built for ambient freight, meaning dry goods that don't need temperature control.
Frozen LTL is a specialized version built for temperature-controlled product. Coldstream's frozen LTL program groups compatible frozen shipments from multiple shippers and holds them at frozen temperature from pickup to delivery. Our post on understanding frozen LTL covers when that model fits.
Pool Distribution
Pool distribution is a scheduled consolidation program built around one retailer's distribution network. Suppliers join the pool, and the provider runs consolidated loads into that retailer's distribution centers on a recurring schedule. Walmart's consolidation pools are the best-known example, and our post on what Walmart frozen suppliers should know about consolidation pools covers how they operate.
| Model | How Freight Is Grouped | Where It Delivers | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-vendor consolidation | Several suppliers' pallets combined by destination, delivery window, and temperature | One distribution center per load, on one appointment | Suppliers shipping partial loads to the same retailers |
| Standard LTL | Individual shipments sorted through carrier terminals | Each shipment to its own receiver | Small quantities of ambient freight |
| Frozen LTL | Compatible frozen shipments grouped and held at frozen temperature | Retail distribution centers, distributors, and consolidation points | Frozen shippers below truckload volume |
| Pool distribution | Recurring scheduled loads for one retailer's network | That retailer's distribution centers | Suppliers selling into a retailer that runs pools, such as Walmart |
How to Keep Frozen Freight Safe in a Shared Trailer
Frozen product stays safe in a consolidated load when every pallet on the trailer shares a temperature set point, the product is fully frozen when it's loaded, handling is kept to a minimum, and temperature is recorded through transit.
- Group freight by set point: Every pallet in a consolidated frozen load needs the same temperature range. Our team checks each supplier's temperature requirement before assigning its freight to a load.
- Load product fully frozen: A reefer, the refrigerated trailer used for frozen freight, is designed to hold product at the temperature it's loaded at. Product needs to be frozen to its set point before it leaves the plant and again before it goes on the outbound trailer.
- Limit dock time and transfers: Frozen product warms fastest while it sits on a dock or in a staging lane waiting for a truck. A consolidated load moves from frozen staging onto one trailer and runs straight to the distribution center.
- Keep temperature records: Temperature records show what happened to the product between pickup and delivery. When you talk with a consolidation provider, ask what they record and what they'll hand you after delivery.
Federal food safety rules apply to shared loads the same way they apply to any other food shipment. The FDA's Sanitary Transportation rule, part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), sets requirements for shippers, loaders, carriers, and receivers moving food by truck or rail. It covers vehicle and equipment sanitation, transportation practices such as temperature control, training, and records. In a shared trailer, the carrier's cleaning and temperature practices protect every supplier's product on the load.
The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), the trade association for temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics, also publishes best-practice guidance for handling frozen product across the cold chain.
When a Dedicated Truckload Fits Better
A dedicated truckload fits better than consolidation when you can fill a trailer on your own, when product has to arrive faster than a consolidation schedule allows, when a shipment is a one-time move, or when your product needs a temperature setting no other freight on the load shares.
Consolidation runs on a schedule. Freight waits at the consolidation point until its outbound load is ready, so total transit can take longer than a truckload running straight from your dock to the distribution center. A supplier with a tight production-to-shelf window may still prefer a direct truck.
As a supplier's weekly volume to a single distribution center grows toward a full trailer, the savings from sharing space get smaller. At that point, a dedicated truckload gives the supplier its own pickup time and its own delivery appointment.
Our team at Coldstream runs asset-based refrigerated trucking alongside our consolidation programs. Asset-based means Coldstream owns and runs its own trucks and refrigerated trailers. A supplier who outgrows consolidation on one lane can move to dedicated truckloads with the same carrier. When a lane needs more capacity than our own trucks cover, our full-service brokerage (3PL) team sources and manages vetted refrigerated carriers.
Many frozen shippers use both models. They consolidate the retail lanes where their volume is small and run truckloads on the lanes where it's high.
The Coldstream Experience
Our team at Coldstream runs 98%+ on-time delivery across our frozen freight, including the consolidated loads we deliver into retail distribution centers. We've moved frozen and refrigerated freight for 22 years, and we can service and price freight to all 48 contiguous states.
Our two active Walmart pool hubs run through partner facilities in Worcester, MA (A&D Cold Storage) and Holland, MI (Cold-Link Logistics). Our partners operate the cold storage buildings. Our team plans the loads, handles all communication with Walmart, and runs the transportation into Walmart distribution centers.
Joining one of our Walmart pool programs starts with your 9-digit Vendor ID. We handle the communication with Walmart directly, and we begin receiving your PO data from Walmart within about two weeks of notification.
Coldstream is also an employee-owned (ESOP) company. The people planning your loads and answering your calls own part of the business they work for.
Key Takeaways
- Freight consolidation combines smaller shipments from several suppliers into one trailer headed to the same destination. Each supplier pays for the share of the trailer its pallets use.
- Consolidation lowers freight cost through a shared linehaul, fewer handling transfers, one delivery appointment at the distribution center, and fewer late-delivery fines.
- Pool distribution is a scheduled consolidation program built around one retailer's distribution network. Walmart's consolidation pools are the best-known example.
- Frozen freight stays safe in a shared trailer when every pallet shares a temperature set point, is loaded fully frozen, spends minimal time on the dock, and has temperature records through transit.
- A dedicated truckload fits better when a supplier can fill a trailer alone, needs faster transit than a consolidation schedule allows, or is making a one-time shipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does freight consolidation work?
Freight consolidation works by collecting shipments from several suppliers at a consolidation point, grouping the pallets by destination and delivery window, and delivering them to the distribution center as one full trailer. The consolidation provider plans each load and schedules its delivery appointment.
What is multi-vendor consolidation?
Multi-vendor consolidation is a shipping model in which freight from several vendors is combined into one outbound load for the same destination. It's also called vendor consolidation. Retail consolidation and Walmart consolidation programs are both forms of multi-vendor consolidation.
Does consolidation increase transit time?
Freight consolidation can add transit time compared with a direct truckload, because freight waits at the consolidation point until its outbound load is ready. Consolidation programs plan each load backward from the retailer's delivery appointment or must-arrive-by date, so the freight still arrives when the retailer expects it.
What's the difference between consolidation and LTL?
Freight consolidation combines several suppliers' shipments into one full trailer going to one destination. Standard LTL moves each shipment separately through a carrier's terminal network and delivers it to its own receiver. Frozen LTL programs such as Coldstream's group compatible frozen shipments from multiple shippers and keep them at frozen temperature from pickup to delivery.
Is consolidated freight safe for frozen product?
Consolidated freight is safe for frozen product when every pallet on the load shares the same temperature set point, the product is fully frozen when it's loaded, and the provider limits dock time and records temperature through transit. Ask a consolidation provider how it groups freight by temperature and what records it provides after delivery.
Final Thoughts
Freight consolidation lets frozen brands ship to retail at a lower cost per pallet by sharing trailer space with other suppliers. Coldstream Logistics is an asset-based, employee-owned carrier that specializes in frozen and refrigerated freight. We run the consolidation programs, the frozen LTL that moves freight into them, and the truckload capacity you'll need as your volume grows. Tell us where your freight ships and how much of it moves each week, and our team will show you which program fits.
