Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight!
This year’s Future of Freight Festival takes place Nov. 19-21 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But it’s not your average conference. Sure, there are wonderful speakers and fireside chats. But that’s only half the fun. F3 is set up with half-days of speakers and amazing content. The other half we take over downtown Chattanooga, and there are events, networking and a lot of fun to be had by all. This year, subscribers to Running on Ice get a promo code exclusive to us! You can register with this link or use the code F3ROI24 at checkout for a discount.
All thawed out
Americold Realty Trust dropped its quarterly earnings, and it wasn’t a bad time. It had a little stronger performance than the dry van counterparts, but there is still a strong indication that the market has a long way to go to return to normalcy. It started off with total revenue of $661 million, a 1.7% change from $649.6 million in Q2 2023. It had a net loss of $64.4 million, or 23 cents per diluted common share.
CEO George Chappelle stated: “As the operational and financial results of the second quarter highlight, it’s been another great quarter for organic growth at Americold as we produced double digit year-over-year growth in Global Warehouse Same Store NOI, Same Store Warehouse Services Margins, and ultimately AFFO. The efforts the team has put in over the past almost three years to build a productive, stabilized workforce have created a solid foundation in which we were not only able to expand.”
Temperature checks
South Jersey isn’t just known for the Jersey Shore. It is experiencing remarkable growth in the cold storage sector. RL Cold and BentalGreenOak are looking to build a new cold storage warehouse. This joint venture is aiming to help with the supply part of that issue.
The facility, which will be along Mount Laurel and Pleasant Valley Avenue, will be over 200,000 square feet and will hold temperatures from minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The building will have a dedicated U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection area and 27 dock positions. The site is the former home of a vacant office building.
RL Cold Chief Operating Officer Josh Lewis said in an NJBiz article, “We chose to work with a local builder who could bring a depth of experience working within this community, and partnering with Greek has been immensely positive for this project so far. Construction is already on-track to wrap on-time and under-budget.”
Food and drug
Frozen, ready-to-eat pasta manufacturer Turri’s Italian Foods has been acquired by Chicago-based Benford Capital Partners. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, this is the sixth platform investment for Benford. Turri’s provides individually quick-frozen, ready-to-eat pasta, rice and grains for food manufacturers, large consumer packaged goods companies, restaurant chains, national retailers and distributors.
Current management is expected to remain in place after the acquisition is complete. Within the acquisition, Benford is gaining two warehouses in Harrison Township and Chesterfield, Michigan. The goal is to add more pasta and rice manufacturers to the portfolio.
Ben Riefe, managing director at Benford Capital Partners, said in a Food Business News article, “Our investment in Turri’s marks BCP’s 7th platform investment in the food sector and further demonstrates our long-tenured commitment to building and scaling unique, family and founder owned food companies.”
Cold chain lanes
This week’s SONAR market goes to the Southeast as Hurricane-then-Tropical Storm Debby departs, leaving behind far too much rainfall and flooding. As a result of the strong rainfall, reefer capacity has returned to a status quo after tightening earlier in the week. Reefer outbound tender volumes are up 2.83% week over week, and reefer outbound tender rejections are down 158 basis points in the same time period for a ROTRI of 6.11%. The one bright spot to come out of some stabilized capacity is that shippers can expect strong routing guide compliance from carriers, as 93% of carriers are accepting their tendered loads. Ensure carriers exercise caution in rural and low-lying areas for the next few days as the flood waters recede.
Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!
Shelf life
Protein takes center stage across categories to meet insatiable demand: From frozen dessert to chips
Vertical Cold Storage announces grand opening of distribution center in Burleson, Texas
Yellow’s unsecured creditors frustrated as professional fees mount
Could retail delivery fees gain traction with a Harris-Walz win?
Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.
See you on the internet.
Mary
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