US Cold Team Members, Partners, and Friends,
Hello Cold Chain Colleagues,
For more than a year, I’ve shared the exciting progress of expansions breaking ground, steel rising, automation coming to life, and new space being prepared across our network. Today, that momentum has shifted into an even more exciting phase.
We are now filling buildings, onboarding new customers, consolidating client inventories, and executing one of the largest waves of account transitions in our company’s history.
This quarter, 15 facilities across our network are either transitioning major customer programs, onboarding significant new business, or supporting customer moves from one US Cold facility to another.
That represents nearly 40% of our network. It is a tremendous undertaking that touches every aspect of our business, from operations and transportation to technology, customer experience, engineering, and site leadership.
I’m very proud to report that our teams are executing at an exceptionally high level. Service levels remain strong, customers are being supported, and our facilities continue to deliver.
The amount of coordination required to successfully move inventory, onboard new programs, train teams, and maintain day-to-day operations simultaneously cannot be overstated.
It is a reflection of the dedication, professionalism, and expertise of our Cold Crew across the country.
I want to especially recognize the facilities leading these transitions, along with the many Road Warriors who have spent weeks and months away from home supporting startup and transition activities. Teams across the country and across the organization have stepped forward to provide support wherever it is needed. Our operations teams, site leaders, Technology, PMO, Phenix, EDI, Customer Experience, Systems Implementation, Transportation and other support teams have all risen to the occasion, helping create opportunities, accelerate timelines, and ensure our customers continue to receive the service they expect from US Cold.
I also want to recognize our customers. Many of these transitions have required flexibility, collaboration, and trust. In several cases, customers have worked with us to accelerate moves or adjust timelines to help support broader network initiatives. Their partnership has been invaluable, and we are grateful for the confidence they continue to place in our team.
What makes this period particularly rewarding is that we are beginning to see the benefits of investments made over the past several years. The technology, automation, and operational capabilities we have been building are helping us execute these complex transitions more efficiently than ever before.
Earlier this quarter, we completed our largest Phenix PaSS conversion to date while continuing to support major account transitions throughout the network. At the same time, we continue expanding automation capabilities, including the rollout of our new layer-pick systems and ongoing enhancements to our automated facilities.
As we look ahead, our momentum remains strong. We are near the peak of this transition cycle, with elevated activity continuing through much of Q3, and while the work is demanding, it is also energizing. Customer engagement remains strong, new growth opportunities continue to emerge, partnerships are deepening, and seasonal demand is beginning to build across many regions.
Most importantly, we are helping our customers grow while positioning US Cold for continued success in the years ahead.
Thank you to the Cold Crew for your hard work, your flexibility, and your commitment to serving our customers every day. What our teams are accomplishing across the country right now is extraordinary, and I am proud of what we continue to achieve together.
All the best,
Larry Alderfer | President & CEO
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
US McDonough wins Mars Snacking’s annual Top Gun warehouse performance award for the fourth consecutive year.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a professional baseball diamond or distribution center. How a team executes, under pressure or in the midst of distraction, makes all the difference between succeeding or dropping the ball.
One of last year’s most compelling teamwork stories involves US Cold’s McDonough 1 operation near Atlanta. Even while one of its largest processor-shipper customers, Kellanova, was being acquired by Mars Incorporated, US Cold McDonough performed at such a peak level that it earned the customer’s annual Top Gun award for the fourth consecutive year.
Mars Snacking now features Kellanova’s snack brands (including Pringles, Pop-Tarts, Cheez-It, RX Bar) as well as its popular frozen businesses (including Eggo waffles and Morningstar plant based foods). Rob Sammons is Mars Snacking’s KDC Manager for operations in Newnan and McDonough, GA.
“I am so proud of our USCS McDonough. Four years in a row reflects the hard work and dedication of the entire team,” says Sammons. “I am thankful and humbled to have the opportunity to work on a daily basis with the great leadership demonstrated by Dedric Thomas (General Manager), Thomas Hensler (Operations Manager), Jessica Jenkins (Customer Service Representative), and Katie Taylor (Customer Service Representative). What a team!”
For the record, USCS McDonough is one of six third-party public refrigerated warehouses serving Mars Snacking and competing for the annual “Top Gun” prize. Mars Snacking evaluates those warehouse partners by as many as 10 key performance indicators, including warehouse damage, warehouse cuts, on-time loading and net inventory variance.
Dedric Thomas is US Cold McDonough’s General Manager. “Mars Snacking is our only customer using key performance indicators for a national award,” he notes. “They also stand out because they’ll check in from time to time just to recognize the good things we’re doing.”
He adds, “Last year, they added more KPIs that address such items as driver satisfaction, worker safety and even our community engagement. All of these elements forced us to raise our game in all areas. As always, I want to thank our people on the floor and customer service reps Jessica and Katie. Moreover, our Operations Manager Thomas Hensler and Inventory Manager Jonathan Hegwood were outstanding.”
Thomas concludes, “We have workers who have never been a part of a championship team anywhere in their lives, including high school. You know they’re focused when it’s a Tuesday morning start-up meeting in February and they’re completely silent, waiting to know if McDonough was still in the lead for this award. To win consistently is a testament to our complete team’s work.”
Bigger (and Better)
US Cold’s Innovation & Transformation group identifies, validates, and scales high-value operational and digital improvements.
Big companies strive for organizational growth, as in more sales and a larger footprint. Then again, there’s a distinction between bigger and better. Recognizing this, US Cold has created an enterprise-wide Innovation & Transformation group.
“Innovation has always happened in pockets across the company. Yet as US Cold grew in scale and complexity, we needed a more systematic way to turn ideas into results,” says new group Director Andrew Pavlicin. “Our portfolio, governance model, and pipeline all have matured. This new formalized move creates structure, visibility, and prioritization, so we invest in the initiatives that deliver the greatest customer and operational impact.”
To Pavlicin’s point, US Cold already has transformed efforts in software development for warehousing as well as internal and external business intelligence. Working alongside Pavlicin are Justin Michael, Senior Software Implementation Manager; and Elizabeth Eachus, Senior Manager of Business Intelligence (BI).
The software implementation group integrates US Cold’s Phenix WMS throughout the network. Meanwhile, Pavlicin says the BI team drives data-informed decisions with trusted data, intuitive analytics, strong governance, and is laying the foundation needed for AI-enablement. Last but not least, the BI team also helped design and launch Lynx, a new customer data portal.
“Today, we’re charged to identify, validate, and scale high-value operational and digital improvements across the enterprise,” says Pavlicin. “That includes running pilots, building data-driven business cases, establishing governance, and ensuring successful ideas move from concept to enterprise adoption.”
“I think it’s great that we are investing in a formal capability to explore new concepts and ideas,” he adds. “We used to approach innovation in silos and the intent of this group is to provide visibility and opportunities to all areas of the business. There was a time where many staffers did not realize that we had an R&D budget. I want to make this more accessible to those with strong ideas!”
Pavlicin reiterates that the new group is “enterprise aligned” rather than tied to a particular function, partnering with Operations, Logistics, IT, Engineering, and Safety depending on the initiative.
“This new group gives our organization new focus and clarity,” he notes. “Teams should have a better sense of how to get their ideas out there and visible. Leaders will know how decisions are made, and investments are tied to measurable outcomes such as safety, cost to serve, labor efficiency, and customer experience. In the end, innovation becomes repeatable…not random.”
Pavlicin stresses that his group is just in its infancy and learning its new ways of working. That said, however, he notes that US Cold already is using “targeted pilots” to first solve specific problems.
“Instead of massive rollouts, we will test in real environments, learn fast, and only scale when the value is proven,” says Pavlicin.
Celebrating US Cold’s History
As the USA turns 250, US Cold celebrates over a century of service.
Rod Noll retired in February 2024 as Senior Vice President, Western Region, after a 42-year career.
“My biggest memory from the time I joined in 1982 was about the impact of Swire finalizing its acquisition of USCS,” he says. “From that point on, I witnessed so much growth with new facilities constructed. Moreover, all these new sites had additional land, which allowed for future expansions.”
“It’s been amazing to see how US Cold has re-invented itself,” he adds. “Over time, it sold off older, smaller facilities and the last of its ice manufacturing plants. Meanwhile, Swire reinvested those funds and accelerated our growth with other initiatives companywide. Personally, I’m thankful to Dave Harlan, who truly supported this amazing transition and journey.”
Vice President Business Development Mike Radnoti joined the company in 1999.
“From the moment I joined the US Cold team, I’ve always felt as though I was a part of something special,” he says. “The culture, people and the way in which we have differentiated ourselves through the years, all have truly been remarkable. The term ‘family’ often is used by many companies. However, I always genuinely felt as though USCS is a second family to all of us. I’ll forever be grateful.”
Sharing his own thoughts is US Cold CEO Larry Alderfer, who joined the company in 1998.
“Without a doubt, Swire’s purchase of US Cold in 1982 is a highly important moment and a critical transition point. Without that, US Cold wouldn’t have today’s incredible culture, operations, technology and safety platforms,” he says. “Additionally, these foundations now drive our continual change, development and successes.
“Collectively, I also believe this is the next key moment in our history. The pace and scale of our technology advancements and integrations during the next 24 months will be the key to the next 20 years of our success and history. I’m also thankful for the strength, dedication and commitment of our Cold Crew. I experienced this the day I started. It preceded me and will continue into the future. I am sure of it. Our people and our culture are our superpower.”
1962-1979 American Consumer Industries Inc. operates cold storage warehouses, manufactures ice and sells a wide variety of consumer goods. American Consumer Industries creates “United State Cold Storage Corporation.”
1979 Trans Canada Freezers Corp. purchases United States Cold Storage from American Consumer Industries.
1979 John Swire & Sons Ltd., London, agrees to purchase a 40% share in United States Cold Storage.
1982 Swire purchases the remaining 60% share of US Cold and changes its name to United States Cold Storage Inc., as a wholly owned subsidiary, complementing Swire’s diverse global holdings portfolio, which includes operations in both food, beverage manufacturing, supply chain, storage, aviation and marine services. At the time of the Swire purchase, US Cold’s network spanned 30 warehouses with approximately 55 million cubic feet of frozen and refrigerated storage.
1985 USCS begins offering multi-vendor, less-than-truckload consolidation in the Midwest.
1986 USCS sells its Philadelphia warehouse and moves its headquarters to Cherry Hill, NJ.
2000 US Cold opens online, 24×7 portal to better service customers.
2001 US Cold exits the ice business; sells Fresno, CA, ice facility.
2005 US Cold builds Bethlehem, PA, warehouse and returns to US Northeast market.
2008 US Cold secures Swire board approval for the “Wild Surmise,” a fast-paced national growth plan.
2009 US Cold officially rebrands its dedicated logistics business to USCS Logistics.
2011 US Cold sites collectively handle and store a record 1 million pallets.
2018-2019 US Cold relocates its US headquarters to Camden, NJ, from Voorhees, NJ, in 2018. In 2019, it marks its 40TH anniversary of ownership and growth under Swire.
2019 US Cold opens its first automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) in Lebanon, IN.
2025 USCS opens its first fully automated warehouse in Hebron, IN.
2026 Total Cubic Square Feet = 478,667,875
A Record for Responsible Reuse
With customer authorization, US Cold’s Texas operations have diverted more than 10 million pounds of unsellable organic material from landfill through composting with The Organic Recycler.
Although the United States officially celebrated Earth Day on April 22, true sustainability champions regard every day as “Earth Day.”
This spring, US Cold Texas operations reached a meaningful milestone by diverting more than 10 million pounds of organic material from landfill through composting with The Organic Recycler (TOR) since August 2024. The program is used when customers request disposal of product that cannot be sold, donated, or otherwise recovered, giving that material a more beneficial end use than landfill. Composting creates reusable soil amendments, improves soil and water health, and helps prevent methane emissions that would otherwise be generated from landfilling organic material.
“This achievement reflects the scale and consistency of both organizations’ efforts to provide a responsible recovery option for material already designated for disposal,” says Sara Cook, US Cold Storage Sustainable Development Manager. “Together, we’re supporting the nation’s food system through responsible processing and beneficial reuse.”
Based in the Dallas metro area, TOR, Forest Hill, TX, operates nine composting facilities in Texas and Oklahoma. When customers request and authorize disposal of unsellable product, US Cold Texas operations in Arlington, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, and Laredo can coordinate shipments of eligible organic materials, including produce, meats, liquids, bakery foods, and dairy products, to TOR locations. Much like home composting, TOR manages the organic material through sizing, blending, and aerated windrows. This process supports beneficial bacteria and fungi that digest the material while helping manage odors, and results in soil amendment products used by people in communities throughout Texas and beyond.
“What I appreciate most about this partnership is that it enables us to make a meaningful environmental impact with very little disruption to our day-to-day operations,” says Dan Regnart, General Manager for USCS Dallas. “Our sustainability team and The Organic Recycler created a turn-key process that has been simple for our team to execute. TOR’s flexibility and strong communication have also allowed the facility to manage customer-authorized disposal requests in a timely, organized, and efficient manner.”
Joe Hogan is TOR’s Territory Sales Manager for Food & Beverage Waste.
“One of the biggest things we’ve learned is that organics diversion works best when it becomes part of the normal operation instead of a separate process. US Cold’s teams have done a strong job building that consistency across multiple facilities,” he says. “What I’ve liked most is the communication and transparency between US Cold’s teams and ours. From scheduling and logistics to day-to-day problem solving, both teams have worked well together and stayed focused on mutual goals.”
US Cold employees and customers also are encouraged by the program’s impact.
“We recently met with our warehouse operations teams to discuss how they, along with our broader Southwest region, are making such impact,” adds Regnart. “That message resonated strongly with employees and reinforced their commitment to the initiative. It truly highlights the important role each individual plays in its continued success.”
“Customers also are engaged,” adds US Cold Sustainability Specialist Henry Lewis. “We’ve had accounts tell site managers they value having a responsible option for product disposals and want eligible material processed by TOR when that need arises.”
Lewis concludes, “Since August 2024, US Cold’s five Texas markets have coordinated more than 270 customer-authorized composting loads. We’re proud that, when disposal is necessary, this program helps ensure uneaten food can still nourish our communities and environment.”
Cold Freight with Benefits
US Cold Logistics leverages expert team members, technology to deliver better brokerage carrier solutions.
What does innovation look like in logistics? You can recognize it when a “nice-to-have” idea quickly grows into a “need-to-have” solution.
That’s exactly what’s happened with US Cold’s Logistics Freight business, which started more than a decade ago to help a few customers. Today, this robust business (with growing staff) handles more than 700 orders a month.
“Our business started just handling a handful of customer loads that touched our warehouses. It since has grown to handling more than 30 customers’ freight on a weekly basis,” notes Chris Stokley, General Manager, Logistics. “Today, we handle more than 10% of the inbound freight coming into our warehouses and we expect to grow those numbers. Though we still focus on freight inbound and outbound from our warehouses, we have seen extensive growth in the last year on loads that never touch US Cold warehouses with core customers.”
“The mission is to provide customers with cost-effective, reliable solutions to move product,” he continues. “Meanwhile, many of our partner carriers, hauling products for our LTL program, always are looking for additional opportunities into our warehouses. Our freight services now are able to go out and procure additional lanes where they have further capacity needs. It also allows us to keep drivers in a closed loop and haul loads exclusively for us rather than having to rely on other brokers/shippers for backhauls into our warehouses. Additionally, many of our smaller customers do not have large supply chain departments, so we are able to offer our expertise in logistics and warehousing to provide them with a one-stop logistics shop.”
Staffing, Strategic Solutions
To keep pace with demand, US Cold’s Freight Services group has added more full-time analysts (now at six people) as well as three business development team members dedicated to FTL and LTL consolidation services.
US Cold likewise leverages cutting-edge technology.
“We have full integration of our carrier onboarding process and tracking capabilities in our TMS platform,” says Stokley. “The enhanced tracking capabilities give us greater visibility of our shipments in transit along with temperature monitoring. The integration of the carrier onboarding process into our TMS has streamlined our insurance monitoring and contact management tasks, all of which has been a time saver.”
Stokley says tools like these enabled US Cold to better accommodate holiday seasonal volume spikes, whether they involve more product for July 4th grilling or Thanksgiving meal shipments.
“We even have added more small to mid-sized carriers to our carrier base,” he notes.
Future Forecast
This year finds the brokerage business offering even more services and regional solutions.
“We will offer more robust cross-dock LTL opportunities,” Stokley notes. “Currently, we really only service LTL orders originating at our facilities. This year, we will expand our LTL services to pick up at facilities within 100-mile radius of our COLDshare Consolidation sites, bring product into our facility and cross-dock it out with our existing volume we arrange from our warehouses.
“These added capabilities will allow us to price customers on small orders they need moved outside of US Cold’s four walls. Also, for smaller customers we will continue to market our ability to provide managed transportation solutions.”
US Cold also now offers truckload and less-than-truckload transportation services from its three Laredo, TX, facilities to the rest of the United States.
“This is our first year offering these services and we expect our offerings and volume to grow from those facilities in the years to come,” Stokley says. “For the moment, these services are only for frozen products but we plan to expand into fresh items in the future.”
Behind the scenes, Stokley says he also takes pride in the freight group’s dedication to service.
“I’m proud of our team’s positive attitude and willingness to make customers happy each day. The team takes immense pride in making sure the customer’s product is moved as scheduled and will not call it quits until we know all loads are on their way to their destination.”
Let’s Move Your Product
Safety: Beyond Boundaries
US Cold parent John Swire & Sons brings its third biennial global safety conference to Camden, NJ.
Although there are country-specific issues in global business, no such international boundaries exist for topics such as worker safety. It’s an important topic, anywhere and everywhere.
That’s why the multinational John Swire & Sons Ltd. (JS&S), London, UK, holds a biennial, in-person conference for safety leaders at its eight holding operations worldwide. And after previous meetings in Singapore and London, the 2026 meeting convened this March at US Cold’s Camden, NJ, headquarters.
The three-day event included 13 attendees from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Guinea and Singapore. In addition to US Cold, Swire delegates represented international shipping (Swire Steamships, Swire Shipping), energy and water (Swire Renewable Energy, Argent Energy, Swire Water) and beverage (Swire Coca-Cola and Finlays global coffee, tea and botanicals).
“Although our businesses may differ in scope and risk, the commitment to safety unites us all,” says Lisa Battino, US Cold Vice President-Safety & Compliance. “A strong safety culture is universally driven across every organization and is built by learning from one another and sharing best practices.”
While US Cold hosted the event, it was organized and led by Ian Offland, JS&S Safety Leader. The meeting also featured a brief Microsoft Teams “town hall” company update and question-and-answer session with JS&S Director JB Rae-Smith, who is Chairman of the US Cold board.
Offland later noted, “I believe we had a solid forum where everyone was engaged with positive energy throughout the three days. Having Swire Coca-Cola was a bonus and their participation was well received. They shared many best practices developed in the US, which enhanced our debates. Networking was clearly evident and I’m hoping this will enhance and improve overall engagement between all the businesses.”
The meeting included as many as seven sessions with such topics as “Leading and Lagging Indicators,” “Human and Organizational Performance,” and “Effectively Measuring Significant Injury Frequency & Identifying Significant Near Misses.”
“Personally, I liked learning about Human and Organizational Performance,” says Battino. “The key take-away is simple, yet powerful. People want to do their best, and a strong safety culture is built by designing systems that help them succeed.”
For her part, Battino led the session on “Effectively Measuring Significant Injury Frequency & Identifying Significant Near Misses.” It included a description of US Cold’s annual network safety competition, the Innovators’ Gran Prix. Other activities included a tour of USCS Bethlehem, PA, and its new Phase 4 automated addition (scheduled to open this fall).
“I think the Bethlehem tour was something the group enjoyed most, along with getting cheese steaks at Campo’s Deli in Philadelphia,” Battino concludes.
Listen to the Cold Cast
From Data to Decisions: How Business Intelligence Is Powering the Future of the Cold Chain
In our Q3 Issue, we present:
