Hanson Logistics announced the company is expanding its temperature-controlled Chicago Consolidation Center, located in Hobart, Ind. The St. Joseph, Mich.-based company says the Phase II expansion is due in large part to the growth of the Hanson Velocities Multi-Vendor Consolidation program, launched in 2008. Hanson Logistics expects to break ground in March with opening scheduled for July 2010. Consisting of new office areas and 2,517,000 cubic feet of warehousing space, the expansion will add more short-term storage, 7,800 pallet positions, staging and dock space for frozen and refrigerated foods.
The flagship Chicago Consolidation Center is a three-phase 14.5 million-cubic-foot. facility now in its third full year of operation. The complex is designed specifically for high-volume throughput, including flexible racking for quick-pick consolidation and cross docking of temperature-controlled food products. From there, Hanson Transportation Management Services provides inbound shuttle service and national truckload service, as well as Velocities Multi-Vendor Consolidation (MVC). Velocities delivers scheduled shared truckloads to major retail, wholesale and foodservice distribution centers throughout the United States.
Hanson Logistics says identified the I-80, I-94 and I-65 corridor in northwest Indiana, specifically the area of Hobart, as offering customers the optimum combination of location, business climate and robust infrastructure. The Chicago Consolidation Center and Velocities brings “final mile” efficiency to food manufacturers of all sizes, including mid-tier volume who traditionally are unable to gain the economies of truckload delivery. “Location, growing pool participation and proven on-time performance have created an increasing demand for our value-added services,” says Andrew Janson, president of Hanson Logistics. “We are proactive in meeting customer needs with scalable solutions.”
