subject: Temperature Controlled Storage Facilities With Your Courier [print this page] When you're shipping goods with any company, you'll find that it just isn't feasible for them to ship your materials using a truck if there isn't much to ship. If another customer's shipment isn't going to be included in a load, then you're often going to have to store your goods with that company, at least for a short period of time, while they get enough other orders going in a similar direction to yours to make it worthwhile to send a truck. This is something that happens all the time with LTL carriers, as they may sometimes require cargo from several different companies before they have enough to actually send the truck out. While the amount of time that your goods are in storage may not amount to much at all, it is still important that they are stored in the proper conditions. This is why it can be very important to find out whether or not your company has temperature controlled storage units, if all their units are controlled, or if you have to specifically request temperature controlled units.
Many people automatically assume that goods are only going to be stored in optimal conditions in warehouses that are kept at acceptable temperatures, but this is not the case. Many people have shipped with companies and ended up having their products damaged due to the intense heat that can be present in some storage facilities. Many people ship products that aren't going to be affected by this in any way, but many products can actually be damaged, warped, spoiled, or outright destroyed if they are stored in too warm of temperatures for a prolonged period of time. If you are shipping anything with a courier that could be damaged in the heat, be sure to ask about the condition and equipping of their storage units.
If you have really valuable goods that have a very low temperature tolerance, you may have to rent a specific storage space that you can control the temperature in exactly. This is typically the concern that people who ship goods which must also be transported in temperature controlled units face. Be sure to find out beforehand if you're going to face extra costs for this service. It isn't unusual to see that if you have to keep things particularly cool or at a certain temperature that there will be a refrigeration or air conditioning storage surcharge added to your final bill. Sometimes it is cheaper to continue storing goods yourself if you have room available.
