Operator licence OF2023521 Freight liability £6,500/t Since 2019

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Ports

Felixstowe London Gateway Tilbury Purfleet Southampton Liverpool
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Refrigerated containers

Refrigerated container haulage

We collect reefers from the port and deliver them to your dock, with a genset where the run needs one. The time a box spends off power is planned before collection, not discovered after it.

Set point
From the booking, in °C with its sign
Power on the road
Genset where the run needs one
Reefer ports
Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton

Price a reefer collection

Container

Container plus cargo, from the booking or the VGM.

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What it is

A box with its own machinery, and it needs power

A refrigerated container carries its own refrigeration unit, and the unit needs electrical power to run. At the terminal the box is plugged into a reefer point. Once it leaves the terminal it has power on the road only if a generator set, a genset, travels with it.

The unit is built to hold a temperature, not to reach one. It is designed to keep cargo at the temperature it was packed at, and bringing warm cargo down to the set point is not its job. That is why cargo should be at its carrying temperature when it is packed, and why time off power matters on the way to you: while the unit is off, nothing is holding the temperature.

So moving a reefer is two jobs. One is the haulage. The other is the time the box spends unplugged, between leaving the terminal’s reefer point and the doors opening at your dock. How long a cargo can safely go without power depends on the cargo, the set point and the weather, so we ask rather than assume.

Reefers at a glance

Sizes
20ft and 40ft, standard or high cube
At the terminal
Plugged in to a reefer point
On the road
Genset where the run needs one
Set point
The shipper’s, on the booking
Pre-trip inspection
On the empty unit, before the line releases it

Sizes to ISO 668.

How we handle it

How a reefer move runs

The same steps as any container, with one more question asked at the start: how long will this box be off power, and does the run need a genset.

  1. The details

    Before we price it we need the set point, the commodity and the delivery address. Those three decide whether the run needs a genset.

  2. Genset or not

    Whether a box can travel unplugged depends on the distance, the wait at delivery and the cargo. Where it cannot, the genset is in place before collection. We settle it at quote stage, with you.

  3. Collection

    Collected on a booked slot, so the box comes off terminal power no earlier than the booking needs. Without a genset, the time off power starts at the gate, which is why the plan comes first.

  4. Delivery and the empty

    Delivered on the agreed day. Have the dock ready, because the box is unplugged or on a genset while it waits. The empty goes back to the depot the shipping line nominates.

What we need from you

Set point, commodity, and whether it needs a genset

Give us the set point exactly as it is on the booking, in degrees Celsius, with plus or minus written out. The West of England P&I Club’s loss prevention guidance puts many reefer claims down to exactly that confusion: Fahrenheit read as Celsius, or a minus sign lost between one document and the next.

Tell us the commodity, and whether it is chilled or frozen. It decides how long the cargo can safely be off power, and so whether the run needs a genset.

If you do not know whether it needs one, say so. That is our question to answer, and we answer it before we quote rather than on the quay.

For food and feed, check the port health position as well as customs. Animal products imported from outside the EU must enter through a border control post, and the inspectors there may check the consignment, physically if they choose. A box held for a check cannot be collected until it is released, whatever has been booked.

What we need to book a reefer

  • Container number and shipping line
  • Set point in °C, with plus or minus
  • Commodity, and whether chilled or frozen
  • Release, customs and port health position
  • Delivery postcode, and when the dock can take it
  • Whether you expect a genset, if you know
Ports

Where we collect reefers

We collect reefers from Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton. For a reefer out of Tilbury, Purfleet or Liverpool, ask before you book and we tell you straight whether we can take it.

Felixstowe

Our home port. The yard at Woolpit is about 35 miles from the gate.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from Felixstowe

London Gateway

Deep-water Thames terminal, planned alongside Tilbury and Purfleet.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from London Gateway

Southampton

South coast deep-sea boxes, delivered inland across the UK.

20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight

Container haulage from Southampton
Licences and cover

What stands behind a reefer move

The same freight liability limit on every box, whether it moves on our vehicle or a partner’s. Partners run on their own operator licences. If the load is high value, ask about higher limits before it moves, not after.

Operator licence
OF2023521
40 vehicles and 40 trailers, on the DVSA public register.
Freight liability
£6,500 per tonne
Under RHA 2024 conditions, five times the RHA standard of £1,300. Subcontracted loads carry the same limit. Up to £10,000 per tonne by arrangement for high value freight.
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Any one event.
Public and products liability
£5,000,000
Each, any one event.

All licences and cover

Questions

Reefer haulage, answered

Does every reefer need a genset?

No. It depends on how long the box will be off power, and that depends on the distance, the wait at delivery and the cargo. Where the run needs a genset, it is in place before collection. We settle which it is at quote stage, not at the gate.

How long can a reefer be off power?

There is no single answer, and a haulier who gives you one without asking about the cargo is guessing. It depends on the commodity, the set point, the weather and how the box was packed. Tell us the commodity and we plan the unplugged time around it, with a genset where it needs one.

What temperature do you run the container at?

The set point on the booking. It is the shipper’s instruction to the shipping line, and it is already on the unit when we collect. We ask for it in writing, in degrees Celsius with plus or minus written out, because a lost minus sign is a known cause of reefer claims.

Which ports do you collect reefers from?

Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton. For a reefer out of Tilbury, Purfleet or Liverpool, ask before you book and we tell you straight whether we can take it.

What cover applies to a refrigerated load?

Freight liability at £6,500 per tonne under RHA 2024 conditions, five times the RHA standard of £1,300, on our vehicles and on partners’. Up to £10,000 per tonne is available by arrangement for high value freight.

If your concern is deterioration of chilled or frozen cargo, or the value of the load, raise it with the request for a price. Ask before the load moves, not after.

What happens if the vessel is late or the box is held?

A reefer waiting at the terminal stays on the terminal’s power. We rebook against the free time you have left and tell you where it stands, so a new collection date is a decision you make, not one you find out about.

Further reading

Reefers, in more depth

Other services

What else we move

Merchant haulage

You book the haulage, not the shipping line. Your slot, your rate, your say.

FCL container transport

Full container loads in 20ft, 40ft, high cube and 45ft, port to door.

Overweight containers

Heavy boxes planned against axle weights and route, legal on the road.

Out of gauge

Flat racks and open tops, with the route planned before collection.

Animal feed, Category 3

APHA registered to carry Category 3 feed in containers. Most hauliers are not.

Collecting a reefer this week?

Send the port, the set point, the commodity and the delivery postcode. We price it the same working day and tell you whether the run needs a genset.

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