COLD CHAIN 3PLs
Cold chain logistics adds temperature tiers, FSMA requirements, and perishable timelines to every billing decision. We run the desk that keeps up with it for temperature-controlled 3PLs. Invoices go out complete with the documentation attached, carrier bills get checked before payment, and accounts receivable (AR) gets worked on a schedule.
THE COLD CHAIN BACK OFFICE
Cold chain 3PLs manage reefer carriers, cold storage facilities, and temperature compliance across the supply chain. Billing involves storage fees with temperature tiers, handling charges for frozen vs. refrigerated vs. ambient products, blast freezing fees, temperature monitoring charges, and carrier-specific reefer surcharges. Each customer may have different temperature requirements and documentation standards.
We handle the billing workflow: carrier invoice audit with reefer surcharge verification, customer invoicing with storage and handling charges by temperature tier, temperature documentation management, and AR follow-up.
Running temperature-controlled trucks as well? See our back-office solutions for reefer carriers.
The dollars at stake are bigger than the paperwork suggests. A single rejected reefer load can run 30,000 to 80,000 dollars in product value, and the claim outcome usually turns on whether the temperature record, the POD, and the timestamps were assembled while the trail was fresh. Multi-client billing raises the stakes again: every 3PL customer has its own rate structure, its own accessorial rules, and its own documentation demands, and applying them inconsistently is how disputes and credit notes eat margin. A billing desk that treats compliance documentation as part of the invoice, not an afterthought, is what keeps cold chain revenue collectible.
Invoice Accuracy
DSO Reduction
POD Chase
Different products require different temperatures. When a frozen product is billed at refrigerated storage rates or a temperature monitoring charge is omitted, the invoice is short.
A cold chain 3PL may use dozens of reefer carriers. Each has its own reefer fuel surcharge structure. When surcharges are not verified on every carrier invoice, overpayments accumulate.
Blast freezing, product inspection, temperature conditioning, and special handling all carry fees that are easy to miss when the billing team is moving fast.
FSMA requires documented temperature records for every food shipment, retained for 12 months. Incomplete or missing records leave the 3PL carrying compliance risk and the customer without audit evidence.
We catalog your temperature tiers, storage fee schedules, handling charge structures, and the documentation standards each of your customers requires.
Training covers your temperature tiers, FSMA documentation standards, carrier surcharge schedules, and customer-specific requirements. Go-live is roughly two weeks.
Carrier invoice audit, customer invoicing by temperature tier, temperature documentation management, and AR follow-up run on every shipment.
New commodities, new customers, new temperature tiers. The billing team handles the complexity.
The result is a back office that handles the complexity your freight demands:
ClearLane logs into the TMS and accounting systems you already run. We do not bring in our own platform or move your data somewhere else. Our team learns your setup and works right inside it, so your information stays where it belongs and nothing about your workflow has to change.
Yes. We configure billing by temperature tier, whether frozen, refrigerated, or ambient, and apply the correct storage and handling rates per product and customer. When a product moves between tiers, the billing adjusts.
We track the documentation side: temperature records, shipper-carrier agreements, and sanitary transportation records for every shipment. The regulatory compliance decisions are yours, but the documentation stays complete and audit-ready.
Cold chain back-office support covers carrier invoice audit with reefer surcharge verification, customer invoicing by temperature tier, temperature documentation management, FSMA compliance tracking, and AR follow-up.
Pricing follows your shipment volume and the complexity of your temperature tier structure. Book a 20-minute call and we will walk through the numbers.
Yes. Whatever combination of TMS, WMS, and cold storage platforms your operation runs on, we work inside them. Billing, documentation, and carrier audit all happen in your existing systems.
We maintain temperature records, shipper-carrier agreements, and sanitary transportation documentation for every qualifying shipment. FSMA requires 12 months of record retention, and we keep the documentation organized and accessible for that full period.
Capture storage, handling, and monitoring charges before invoicing.
Get Started
Most cold chain clients start with carrier invoice audit and temperature compliance documentation, then grow into full back-office management.
