In the past 10 years, food processing and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturing has seen accelerated growth within a 150-mile radius of Atlanta as more processors and manufacturers discover the economic advantages offered within this radius.
Boasting the second busiest container port on the east coast, a confluence of interstate highways radiating through Atlanta, a pro-growth strategy in both state and local governments, and an educated and growing workforce, businesses looking to expand or relocate existing production do well to move to or near north Georgia.
To service those processing and manufacturing plants with transport for either/both inbound raw materials and packaging or outbound finished products, Colonial Cartage has invested in the necessary tractors, trailers, and personnel to move products to/from plants to their next stop in the supply chain.
Processing and Manufacturing Plant Support In Georgia
Many food processors and CPG manufacturers have taken advantage of Colonial’s reliable plant support services to bring raw materials to their plants and return finished products to Atlanta Bonded Warehouse for cross-dock, intermediate storage, co-packaging, or order selection.
Our Atlanta logistics facilities have rail access, temperature-controlled warehousing, and enhanced security systems, and our local plant support services operate within 150 miles of Atlanta, offering clients convenience and efficiency throughout the production process.
Colonial has the drivers, assets, and expertise to coordinate these moves and services to keep your plants running efficiently so you can focus on production and not on coordinating logistics.
Our long experience in logistics and transportation allows us to efficiently streamline our clients’ supply chains and provide comprehensive support across our wide range of services. If you’d like to learn more about our manufacturing plant support and how we can serve you, contact us today.Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a dry trailer or van?
Unlike temperature-controlled (reefer) transportation, dry trailers or vans are not insulated or temperature controlled. Trailer lengths are the same as temperature-controlled trailers, but their cubic capacity is typically greater (for the same length trailer) since their interior capacity is not reduced by insulated walls and floors and refrigeration equipment.
- What does it mean to have a food-grade trailer or truck?
Food-grade trailers are designed and maintained to maintain product integrity, quality, and safety. The FDA’s Sanitary Transportation rule governs food-grade transportation in the United States. This rule aims to prevent poor practices that create food safety risks during transportation that can lead to foodborne illnesses – such as improper refrigeration, contamination by non-food items, or cross-contamination. This rule applies to all shippers, receivers, loaders, and carriers transporting food in the United States.
- What are Colonial Cartage’s temperature-controlled shipping temperatures?
Colonial Cartage offers temperature-controlled shipping for sensitive, food-grade, or CPG products requiring transport at mid-temperature ranges (60°F–70°F) and dry shipping for products needing transport at ambient temperature ranges (40°F–90°F).
- What do you mean by appointing, load-planning and sequencing?
Colonial Cartage’s transportation management team handles the appointing, load-planning, dispatching, routing, and delivery services for our warehousing and pool customers.
- The appointing process entails confirming with the receivers (retailers, wholesalers, or distributors) the suitable date(s) and time(s) for delivering our clients’ consolidated LTL shipments.
- For less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments, load-planning consolidates orders of different sizes from different shippers headed to the same destination into one trailer to maximize its payload capacity. Load planning helps improve operational efficiencies and lowers costs by spreading the stop fee or the cost of the truckload across multiple shippers for that stop or destination. That said, Colonial Cartage does not trap freight or wait for a full truckload to build more profitable loads for itself. Colonial ships per our weekly sailing schedule.
- Load sequencing ensures that cargo is loaded into the trailer in the reverse order of the drop sequence of the orders.
- What is the difference between LTL and TL shipping?
LTL refers to orders of less-than-truckload quantity typically co-mingled with other similar-sized shipments headed for the same destination. LTL orders can weigh from 150 pounds to 15,000 pounds.
Truckload (TL) shipping is for larger orders that require all or most of the trailer’s capacity. However, in certain circumstances, usually dictated by the receiver or for shippers to avoid compliance issues, shippers will ship LTL orders by themselves as TL to expedite delivery. TL orders can weigh up to 44,000 pounds.
- What LTL and TL transportation services does Colonial Cartage offer?
Colonial Cartage offers food-grade, dry, and temperature-controlled, less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload (TL) distribution services for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and food and beverage processors. Colonial services a 26-state area including the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and the Great Plains.
Our local plant transportation services operate within 150 miles of Atlanta and include inbound shipping to our clients’ plants and facilities and outbound shipping to their warehouses or retail and food service clients. - What are your LTL plant support services?
Colonial Cartage’s plant support services include shipping raw materials, work-in-process, and packaging to our clients’ plants/facilities and returning their finished products to their next stop in the supply chain (warehouses, retailers, distributors/wholesalers). Frequently, inbounds to the plants and returns are both serviced by Atlanta Bonded Warehouse distribution facilities.
Many of our plant support clients also choose to use cross-docking, intermediate storage, co-packaging, and other third-party logistics (3PL) services offered by our sister company, Atlanta Bonded Warehouse.
- How large is Colonial’s LTL and TL fleet?
Colonial Cartage is an asset-based carrier with more than 70 power units and 220 refrigerated and dry trailers. All equipment is food-grade and uses electronic logging devices (ELDs) for drivers and GPS systems for tracking equipment.