Cold storage warehouses, this one included, quote a rate per customer instead of printing a price list. Here is what goes into that number, so you can compare quotes on equal terms.

Five things that move the rate

  • Temperature. Frozen costs more than refrigerated. A freezer takes more energy, thicker walls, and slower turns at the dock.
  • Term. A year costs less per month than a week. A standing commitment lets the warehouse plan its racks.
  • Volume. More pallets earn a better rate, but only if they move. A hundred pallets that sit for a year are priced differently from a hundred that turn every month.
  • Turns. How often product comes in and goes out. Storage and handling are separate lines, and a busy account pays more of the second.
  • Services. Picking cases costs more than moving full pallets, because someone opens the pallet. Re-palletizing to a customer's spec is billed per pallet.

What is usually not in the headline rate

  • Handling in and out. A charge each time a pallet crosses the dock, each way.
  • Order picking. Billed by the case or the pallet, on top of storage.
  • Re-palletizing and restacking. Per pallet, when the load has to change shape before it ships.
  • Minimums. Many large warehouses want a large pallet count or a monthly minimum before they will talk. Kelley Creek has no minimum stated up front.

Freight is part of the cost

A lower rate ninety miles away can cost more once you add the truck to get there and back. For a plant in Austin, Owatonna, or Mason City, Albert Lea is under an hour. For the Twin Cities it is under two. Our building sits about two minutes from I-35, so the freight line stays short.

How to compare quotes

Ask every warehouse for the same four lines: storage per pallet per month, handling in, handling out, and any minimum. Put them in one column. Then add what it costs you to drive there. The lowest storage rate is not always the lowest total.

Request your rate

Send us what you are storing, frozen or refrigerated, and when you need the space, and we will call you back with a quote. Request your rate, or call (507) 552-5619 and a person in Albert Lea answers.