Circle Logistics is expanding its refrigerated less-than-truckload service to provide food and beverage shippers with access to temperature-controlled capacity for partial loads. The company is building a referral network of qualified frozen food producers and connecting them with available reefer LTL capacity.

The service consolidates multiple pallet shipments onto a single temperature-controlled trailer, allowing smaller producers to move partial loads while maintaining cold chain reliability, documentation, compliance, and real-time shipment tracking. The expansion comes as demand for refrigerated and frozen foods rises, while tariff pressure and tighter cold storage capacity near borders and ports add complexity for shippers. 

Every Circle load, including full truckload and reefer LTL shipments, goes through the company's E3 carrier vetting process. The process verifies the driver's commercial driver's license (CDL), the truck and trailer vehicle identification numbers (VINs), and equipment photos before dispatch. Circle also confirms carrier identity directly with the shipper and provides continuous tracking links for every shipment.

“Reefer LTL has quickly become a cornerstone of our service offering because it fundamentally changes the logistics math for growing brands,” said Rick Lefler, director of business development at Circle Logistics. “We’re enabling emerging frozen food producers and grocery retailers to access the same enterprise-grade cold chain reliability and real-time tracking as our largest truckload partners, while giving them the agile, scalable logistics foundation they need to grow with confidence.” 

What this means for the trucking industry

Circle's reefer LTL expansion gives smaller food and beverage shippers another way to use refrigerated capacity when their freight does not fill a truckload. For carriers and logistics providers, the model creates opportunities to consolidate partial shipments while maintaining temperature control and shipment visibility.