The pace of construction is picking up in Richland, Washington, as Preferred Freezer Services’ (PFS) first cold storage facility in the state is taking shape. Upon completion, which is scheduled for July of 2015, it will reportedly be the largest public refrigerated warehouse in North America and the biggest coldstore built at one time anywhere in the world.
Strategically positioned near an existing railroad spur, the automated facility will stand 120 feet tall and cover 455,000 square feet, with 313,000 square feet dedicated to freezer space served by robotic cranes. It will add over 40 million cubic feet of cold storage capacity to the company’s international network.
Noting that the track system will provide 207 miles of pallet support and have capacity for 50 rail cars per day, PFS President Brian Beattie commented: “This is our first venture into the Pacific Northwest, with two additional locations in the development stage.”
Headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, the Preferred Freezer Services has state-of-the-art coldstores at 34 locations in the USA, China and Vietnam. Ranked as the fourth largest operator of public refrigerated warehouse space in the world, it currently offers customers 6,657,287 cubic meters of space. That’s up by 562,068 cubic meters since 2012.
