Refrigerated warehouse logistics provider Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Mich., opened the doors to an additional 12,000 pallet positions of deep frozen storage, following the completion of Phase IV of the Hanson Logistics Chicago Consolidation Center.

 This 85,000-square-foot expansion brings the facility’s overall capacity to 16,500,000 cubic feet with 48,000 (90-inch high) pallet positions and 50 dock doors. Unlike most refrigerated warehouses used for long-term food storage, the Chicago Consolidation Center is designed from the ground up for efficient and accurate throughput. The technology-based ordering, picking and loading workflow is specific to building consolidated shipments for shared truckload distribution in the company’s Velocities Multi-Vendor Consolidation program, with more than 110 trucks averaging 1,000 miles per week.  

The Chicago Consolidation Center is located adjacent to the I-80, I-94 and I-65 interchange in Hobart, Ind. The expansion adds 14 swing-in doors that help keep loading time and energy loss to a minimum, while assuring cold chain integrity in both inbound and outbound handling.

Being in close proximity to the Chicago market, the Chicago Consolidation Center is said to be the Midwest’s largest frozen food distribution hub for both national distribution of foods grown and processed in the central states and as an eastern U.S. distribution center for frozen foods originating in the western half of the country.

“Our location enables us to simplify our clients’ distribution strategies, regardless of their growing or processing location,” says Andrew Janson, president. “We’re meeting the demand with best-of-class, temperature-controlled solutions. We appreciate the support of our existing customers, and now open the doors for new customers to join ourVelocities program and capitalize on the value this program provides.”