Chill-Chain is an online platform, operating within the temperature-controlled transportation market, importing and exporting goods from the UK and Europe, offering logistics solutions for the cold-chain industry. Our customers include a variety of businesses, from fruit importers to retailers to manufacturers of frozen and chilled foods.
Who we are
At the heart of Chill-Chain is a philosophy that encourages simple solutions to logistical problems: with one free, easy-to-use system, shippers can post a load they need transported, providing the route, collection and delivery details. Pre-approved hauliers can quote a price, which the shipper can then accept. An end-to-end spot order has just been created.
Chill-Chain has doubled in size in the last 6 months alone, and with this new momentum has come greater understanding of our role in the world of chilled and frozen logistics. Chill-Chain is not another competitor in the logistics industry and not the disrupter it once saw itself as, but rather the facilitator. Chill-Chain is an online, open, logistics marketplace for UK and International loads, with no tangible assets. We allow you to have full control over your transportation and logistics needs with seamless communication between all parties.
Our advancing technology allows hauliers to reduce the number of trucks running empty on the road, improves the transparency and flexibility for shippers across all areas and provides an efficient digital end-to-end solution where all the information required is accessible on the same platform.
Why we exist
Chill-Chain was established only 3 years ago, to update the cold-chain logistics industry. Our CEO and founder, Jack Fleming, saw first hand the effects of the lack of visibility within the cold-chain. “My father is a fruit importer and exporter, who would have times where he didn’t know where valuable (and delayed) goods were. The technology existed to track where my £10 pizza delivery was but he couldn’t tell you when his half a million pounds worth of blueberries were going to arrive”. This was the logic applied when creating Chill-Chain, with the focus on improving transparency within the industry. The Chill-Chain portal also exists to put an end to the never-ending chains of emails and phone calls within logistics as well as making pricing as open and honest as possible. Chill-Chain’s platform connects shippers to a large network of hauliers who can provide quotes on spot work within minutes. Once a quote is accepted, a live chat function is provided to directly connect the shipper and haulier. Finally, 30% of trucks on UK roads are running empty*, a figure that indicates serious inefficiencies for hauliers and has serious implications for the environment. Chill-Chain believes by bringing more understandable and easy-to-use tech to the market we can work to reduce empty miles, reduce C02 emissions and improve margins for all involved.
What we do
The platform allows our customers to streamline their logistics process. Chill-Chain has delivery templates that just need to be adjusted with collection and delivery information, temperature requirements and pallet dimensions. Collection and delivery references can be added to the platform once they’ve been confirmed, along with any additional notes from the shipper. This data consolidation then allows for more efficient workflow for carriers as they have all the information they require from the shipper. The live chat function improves communication as it is centralised in a single system, faster and clearer communication reduces errors and improves overall satisfaction for both hauliers and shippers.
Our current customers use Chill-Chain to varying degrees. For certain shippers, the spot work function facilitates last-minute movements and allows them to benefit from back-load rates. Large manufacturers benefit from this enormously. Other customers have handed over their whole logistics and transportation needs to us, whether that’s tendering contracts or moving single pallets for them, we even handle import customs clearances as part of the service. Chill-Chain has been developed to make all requirements a possibility, whilst typically providing cost-saving solutions.
The future of Chill-Chain
Going forward, Chill-Chain plans to continue to focus on growth; expanding our team, and focusing on the platform’s engineering. Our team of web-developers ensure that we can constantly take on feedback and keep updating our platform to make it as user-friendly and accessible as possible. We have recently introduced a contract tendering function – allowing shippers to easily tender work to a pool of hauliers who can then express interest – at the click of a button. With an expanding, multilingual team, we are also looking to develop our operations further into Europe, whilst also being fully knowledgeable of the protocols involved within the post-Brexit imports and export regulations.
* https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627597/domestic-road-freight-statistics-2016.pdf
