Northern Refrigerated Transportation

What Northern Refrigerated Transportation does

Northern Refrigerated Transportation (NRT) is a privately held, family-owned refrigerated trucking and logistics company founded in 1947 as Northern Milk Lines and headquartered in Turlock, California. The company operates an approximately 200-truck fleet providing temperature-controlled less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload (TL) freight services, and bills itself as the largest refrigerated LTL carrier on the West Coast. Its route network covers 600+ cities across six western US states (California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho) out of four terminals in Turlock CA, Ontario CA (terminal and warehouse), and Clackamas OR, with cross-border service into Canada.

NRT's technology stack is built around ORBCOMM cold chain telematics (deployed 2016) for two-way temperature monitoring, fuel management, and sensor alerting, integrated with TMW TruckMate dispatch software and a TMW-powered customer portal (nrg.tmwcloud.com) that supports EDI-enabled order entry, tracking, and POD retrieval. SmartDrive video-based safety technology was added in 2021. The product portfolio extends beyond linehaul into warehousing, cross-docking (Ontario CA, Turlock CA, Clackamas OR), lift-gate delivery, overnight delivery, re-palletization, pool shipment redistribution, freight consolidation, supply chain management, and dedicated truck leasing, allowing the company to capture a larger share of customer cold chain spend. ORBCOMM-based monitoring supports compliance with FDA Food Safety Modernization Act temperature requirements.

The business model is primarily transactional: revenue is generated per shipment on a quote-based, weight-and-miles pricing model with a weekly EIA California diesel-based fuel surcharge, plus recurring-like revenue from dedicated truck leasing arrangements. Go-to-market is sales-led through a customer service representative team (1-800-692-5874, [email protected]) supplemented by an online quote tool, LTL transit time calculator, self-serve customer portal, and content marketing. NRT targets food manufacturers, food ingredient manufacturers, food retailers, and other carriers across the Western US; named customers include Schreiber Foods, C.H. Robinson, US Cold, Bevmo, FOODMatch, Primal Pet Group, and Project Juice.

Name

Northern Refrigerated Transportation

Legal name

Northern Refrigerated Transportation, Inc.

Website

https://northernrefrigerated.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Refrigerated Logistics Services

NAICS

Specialized Freight Trucking (4842), Truck Transportation (484), Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage (493120), Transportation and Warehousing (48-49)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210), Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Public Warehousing & Storage (4220)

akta.pro primary industry

Chilled / Fresh Transport (Refrigerated) (TLADAHAG)

Keywords

• Refrigerated trucking services
• Cold chain logistics
• Less than truckload shipping
• Temperature controlled freight
• Warehousing cross docking

Headquarters

HQ city

Turlock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Refrigerated Freight Transportation: Core revenue from temperature-controlled freight transportation services including LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload) shipments. Customers pay based on weight and miles. LTL allows customers to pay only for pallet spaces needed.
2. Warehousing and Logistics Services: Warehousing, cross-docking, re-palletization, lift gate delivery, overnight delivery, pool shipment redistribution, and supply chain management services.
3. Dedicated Truck Leasing: Dedicated truck leasing for companies that do not want the expense of hiring drivers and maintaining equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Northern Refrigerated Transportation provides temperature-controlled trucking and freight services across six western U.S. states (CA, OR, WA, AZ, NV, ID) using a fleet of approximately 200 refrigerated trailers. The company specializes in Less Than Truckload (LTL) and Truckload (TL) refrigerated shipping, allowing customers to pay per pallet space, and complements these core transport services with warehousing, cross-docking, overnight delivery, lift gate delivery, re-palletization, pool shipment redistribution, freight consolidation, supply chain management, and dedicated truck leasing.

Product overview

Northern Refrigerated Transportation operates as a single-service provider offering a comprehensive suite of cold chain logistics solutions built around its core refrigerated transport and LTL services. The company serves as the largest refrigerated LTL carrier on the West Coast, providing temperature-controlled trucking across six western states. The product portfolio centers on the core Refrigerated Transport Services and LTL Services, supported by add-on modules including Warehousing, Cross Docking, Lift Gate Delivery, Overnight Delivery, Re-Palletization, Pool Shipment Redistribution, Freight Consolidation, Supply Chain Management, and Dedicated Truck Leasing. A Customer Portal (TM4Web) provides self-service order entry and shipment tracking capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Refrigerated Transport Services
• LTL (Less Than Truckload) Services
• Truckload (TL) Services
• Warehousing
• Cross Docking
• Lift Gate Delivery
• Overnight Delivery
• Re-Palletization
• Pool Shipment Redistribution
• Freight Consolidation
• Supply Chain Management
• Dedicated Truck Leasing
• Customer Portal (TM4Web)

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% no-touch freight for drivers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ORBCOMMcoreTechnology or Integration · 11 August 2016ORBCOMM provides cold chain telematics solutions for Northern Refrigerated's fleet of refrigerated trailers. Includes two-way temperature monitoring and control, fuel management, maintenance and logistics services. Deployment completed by end of 2016. ORBCOMM's solution integrates with TMW TruckMate dispatch software platform.
• SmartDrivecoreTechnology or IntegrationSmartDrive provides video-based safety technology for Northern Refrigerated's fleet, added to their technology suite in 2021.
• TMW Systems (TruckMate)coreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partner providing dispatch software platform. ORBCOMM's telematics solution easily integrates with TMW TruckMate dispatch software platform, providing centralized view of near-real-time asset location, temperature and sensor readings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stevens Transport: Large US refrigerated truckload and LTL carrier with temperature-controlled services and dedicated capacity — directly comparable to NRT in business model (reefer LTL/TL, dedicated) and customer base across food shippers.
• Hirschbach Motor Lines: Refrigerated TL and LTL carrier offering temperature-controlled linehaul, dedicated, and cross-dock services — highly comparable to NRT's reefer LTL/TL plus dedicated leasing and value-added services mix.
• KLLM Transport Services: Refrigerated TL carrier with dedicated fleets, logistics, and cross-dock capabilities. Peer because of the same refrigerated focus, dedicated offering, and similarly sized asset base.
• Marten Transport: National refrigerated truckload and intermodal carrier with dedicated, brokerage, and logistics services — comparable reefer-heavy mix with similar LTL-adjacent and dedicated offerings to NRT.
• Bay & Bay Transportation: Refrigerated and tank carrier with TL, LTL, dedicated, and warehousing — a close mid-market analog to NRT's refrigerated LTL plus dedicated/warehousing bundle.

Broad incumbents

• C.R. England: One of the largest US temperature-controlled carriers with national refrigerated TL, dedicated, and cold-chain logistics. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the same refrigerated category, though substantially larger than NRT.
• Werner Enterprises: Large multi-mode carrier with dedicated, refrigerated, and logistics services. Sizable reefer presence makes it a broad-incumbent peer for NRT's dedicated and refrigerated offerings.
• Prime Inc. Diversified refrigerated, flatbed, and tanker carrier with national footprint. Peer because of substantial refrigerated TL/dedicated capacity competing for the same food shippers.
• Ruan Transportation Management Systems: Dedicated contract carriage and logistics provider with dedicated refrigerated fleets — directly comparable to NRT's dedicated truck leasing service line and broader cold-chain customer profile.

Others

• Ryder System: Major fleet leasing, dedicated transportation, and cold-chain logistics provider. Peer because Ryder offers dedicated refrigerated truck leasing and supply chain solutions that overlap with NRT's dedicated leasing and warehousing offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NRTProud
• Facebookfacebook.com/northernrefrigerated
• Instagraminstagram.com/northernrefrigerated

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northern Refrigerated Transportation