Reefer freight that holds temperature.
Reefer freight is unforgiving in a way dry van is not. A dry van that arrives late is an inconvenience; a reefer that runs warm is a rejected load and a claim. The GTA moves serious volumes of it — the Ontario Food Terminal, the grocery distribution centres and a large food manufacturing base — and the standards are set accordingly.
The parts that decide the outcome.
Ontario Food Terminal volume
The largest wholesale produce distribution centre in Canada sits in Etobicoke, and it runs on early, tight and unforgiving delivery windows.
SFCR compliance is not optional
Canada’s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations set requirements for how food is transported and how conditions are documented. Carriers who cannot evidence it do not carry food.
Continuous monitoring, not a reading at the door
A temperature check on arrival tells you the load failed. Continuous data tells you when and lets somebody intervene while the freight is still saleable.
Pre-cool and pulp temperature
A trailer must be pre-cooled before loading, and produce should be at temperature going in. A reefer unit holds temperature — it is not designed to pull a warm load down.
Temperature controlled in Toronto, asked and answered.
- How do you make sure the temperature held in transit?
- By using carriers with continuous monitoring rather than spot checks, agreeing the setpoint and whether it is continuous or cycle-sensor before dispatch, and confirming the trailer was pre-cooled. If something drifts mid-transit, that is the moment to act — not on arrival when the only remaining question is who pays.
- Do you handle Ontario Food Terminal deliveries?
- Yes. The Terminal runs on early and unforgiving windows, and it rewards carriers who know the site. Produce freight generally is time-critical in a way most freight is not, which is why we match it to carriers who genuinely run food lanes rather than treating it as ordinary reefer capacity.
- What happens if a load is rejected on temperature?
- Documentation decides it. Continuous temperature data, the pre-cool record, pulp temperatures at loading and clean paperwork are what establish where the failure happened. Without that record, a rejection becomes an argument nobody wins. This is precisely why we insist on monitoring rather than treating it as a nice-to-have.
One desk, every mode.
For how this works nationally rather than in Toronto specifically, see temperature controlled across Canada.
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