Hanson Logistics recently announced that the company is constructing a new 14.5 million cubic foot, temperature-controlled Chicago Consolidation Center to support the growing demand for order mixing, freight consolidation and shared truckload delivery to retail and foodservice distribution centers. Construction will begin immediately with completion in late summer 2007.

The new facility will be constructed in three phases, with a total of 45,000 pallet positions ranging from deep frozen (-20°F) for ice cream to (0°F) frozen and (32- 40°F) cooler. Phase 1 will consist of 5,000,000 cu. ft. (135,000 sq. ft.) and 15,600 pallet positions.

The facility is designed specifically for high-volume throughput, with a flexible racking design and layout enabling Hanson to meet a variety of customer requirements including case-pick consolidation and cross docking of temperature-controlled food products. Transportation services will include shuttle service for food manufacturers requiring short-term production warehousing, nationwide full-truckload service and Hanson's Velocities multi-vendor consolidation and delivery. Hanson operates Velocities from several other facilities and has a scheduled delivery service to key points in a 400-mile radius.

As part of this Chicago initiative, the company expects to expand its truck fleet, with a majority of the units domiciled at the new facility, and offer clients rail service via the CN Railroad.

Hanson utilizes SSA Global's Œbest in class Supply Chain Management System which enables end-to-end fulfillment from order inception to order shipping.

The Chicago Consolidation Center is situated in the NorthWind Crossings Business Park, where Hanson Logistics has purchased additional acreage for future expansion. The I-80, I-94 and I-65 corridor in northwest Indiana, specifically the area of Hobart, offers Hanson Logistics and its customers the optimum combination of location, business climate, and robust infrastructure, said Greg Hanson, President, Hanson Logistics. Our new logistics campus will be a model of logistics efficiency, as a consolidation center for our clients' regional and national distribution. We believe it also underscores our commitment to providing world-class temperature-controlled logistics services.

Phase 1 is expected to create up to 40 new jobs in the next 24 months, while also strengthening NW Indiana's growing reputation as a logistics hub for serving the greater Chicago and Central states area.

Headquartered in St. Joseph, Mich., Hanson Logistics is a leading provider of supply chain management services, and is the 13th largest public refrigerated warehouse network in the country, with 7 facilities totaling 29,031,000 cubic feet of deep frozen, refrigerated and dry warehousing space.

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