Shipments by refrigerated truck

The first question i’d ask is if all your shipments come by refrigerated truck, and if they don’t why the hell not. (from distributor to retailer)

Napa to Sacramento example

2 bottles 2007 Pure Evil Chardonnay @ 10.99 ea $21.98

Shipping options:
UPS Ground $11.00 Takes one day
FedEx Ground $11.76 Takes one day
Refrigerated Truck $ 622.15 Takes until they fill the dang truck.

[highfive.gif]

I do not agree with the excuse for cost. I can understand it, but I do not agree with it when it comes to goods that can be so easily damaged in high temperature and unlike food where it’s obvious, wine is not so obvious.

Sorry, I thought you were being funny.

The truth is, there are no shippers who use refrigerated trucks for single packages. On a given day, we may ship anywhere from a single bottle to fifteen cases in forty packages ranging from two bottles to a full case, to thirty different states. Our options are FedEx and UPS. Carrie checks the weather forcast across the country everyday she is shipping. During the hottest and coldest months, Carrie will recommend overnight shipping or she won’t guarantee the product will not be damaged. She regularly holds shipments for better weather. Anytime the weather is a little hot or cold, Carrie wraps the bottles in insulated bubble wrap before putting them in the styrofoam shippers. We also have fozen gel packs that fit into the styro and use them when appropriate. The bottles to be shipped are maintained in our wine storage at 55 degrees prior to packaging. Carrie has even upgraded shipping at our cost, to protect the wine in bad weather.
To date, we haven’t lost a product due to heat damage. Conversely, we have had damage from extreme cold, a six pack of Chard to Chicago, that arrived with all 6 corks bulging through the foil. Carrie ate the cost and shipped six more overnight, even though she had told the buyer it wasn’t safe to ship ground in the first place. We can’t really refuse to ship the wine ground in the middle of summer if that’s what the buyer wants. Our knowledgeable regulars usually tell Carrie to ship their wine overnight or when Carrie thinks the weather is right for 3 day or ground.
99% of damage that has occurred during shipping has been mishandling by the carrier. As for refrigerated trucks, we have two distributors who don’t use them!! We have refused shipments of wine from these distributors a couple times when the wine arrives leaking.
I hope that explains it a little better.

To the original question:

I’d be interested. I was actually propositioned by an ex-employer asking if I thought it was a good idea for wine store owners to get together about once a month to share ideas. Personally, I think there’s a lot of good ideas out there, but I don’t want to end up with everyone being the same. Some non-federated wine mafia. Locally there was a big kid on the block and several key employees were recruited by competitors. What happened was that all the larger local stores ended up looking almost identical in their wine presentation and online presence (guilty as charged.) A forum would be cool as long as it didn’t end up being a way for some to poach ideas and dig for gossip. Would this be open for non-merchants as well? The idea of merchants being able to share where they’re coming from with consumers would be the most beneficial for all parties involved, I feel. Consumers can share their concerns (like refrigerated shipping) and we, as retailers, can do a better job as supplying what the consumers want.

Regarding the shipping, I’ve got Randy’s back on this one. It simply is not practical. I have used refrigerated shipping before, but it is rarely a good option. Any decent merchant will hold the wines through the hot and cold seasons and ship when appropriate or overnight. If I’m sending a palette of first growths across the country, there are private companies, but they are too expensive for the vast majority of shipping. UPS and FedEx are the only viable options to use regularly. I would encourage you to check out freethegrapes.org to see this topic being addressed formally.

Remember that until Kermit Lynch in the '70s, they didn’t even use refrigerated containers when using the trade current across the atlantic (which are conveniently located ON THE EQUATOR.) Then through the Panama Canal to get to the West Coast. This sounds abhorrent to us these days, but when shipped in the right season, the danger is not a prevalent as one might think. Retailers and consumers just need to be aware of the danger and act appropriately. Do everything feasible to make sure the wine is treated like it was our own and replace the wine if there is a problem.

Oh i meant from distributors to you. Sorry it was confusing =(

Whew, I thought I was really gonna get laid into. [blackeye.gif]

Yes, I agree with you whole heartedly. Watching a 24 ft. U-haul truck backing up to my door in the middle of July, with six cases of Pinot inside really frosts my cookie. [stop.gif]

I can imagine every retailer avoiding this question probably gets UPS shipments =P.
I was at an OC store recently that just had boxes and boxes of shipments that arrived on Wed morning, shipped on monday via UPS. Woot go 100degree weather!

Charlie, most wineries and distributors ship to retailers via freight companies, not common carrier. The wines are not packaged in shipping containers, they are just shipped as regular old cases, or as partial pallets. There are advantages and drawbacks, of course. One of the advantages being that the trucks have fewer stops and if all goes well, the wines are delivered quickly. Overnight warehousing is cool, trucks are loaded at 2-4 am, carriers that specialize in wine have heavily insulated trucks, and with the sheer mass of the pallet-wrapped orders they keep themselves cool, sort of like a mini-icebergs. The major drawback being that if all does not go well the wines have little padding to protect them from temperature changes. Occasionally trucks break down, or orders are inadvertently left at the wrong address (happens when the trucker is pulling out lots to get at something in the front of the truck and he forgets to load the off’d lots back in) and then the warehouse or store employees shrug, call the trucking company to come get the wine, but they’re like, Hey we don’t have space for somebody else’s wine.

Do the cases arrived shipped upside down?

Upside down as in the bottle necks facing up?? Yes.

If not, its too easy to break the bottle necks during transport. We have witnessed some pretty nasty results when a dummy at the warehouse did stack the cases five high with the necks down. Two broken bottles lets enough wine out to weaken the cardboard on the low side, resulting in the entire stack collapsing or falling over. Imagine sixty gallons of Meritage sloshing around in the back of the delivery truck. [1974_eating_popcorn.gif]

Nope, cases are stacked upside down (bottles are neck down) during shipping on purpose to prevent corks from popping up due to cold or heat.

I’ve seen both neck up and neck down (and even alternating on the same pallet) and some producers (usually French) have the bottles alternated in the original case (they can get away with a smaller case that way)…

When the wines are palletized for shipping they’re neck down. Our deliveries are three to ten cases at a time, loaded in a truck with deliveries for twenty or more other stores through Napa and Sonoma Counties. They are delivered daily from the various distributors’ warehouses. For the short, rough travel, most come neck up and the delivery person turns them over when bring them in the store.

Last week we were supposed to receive double mags of 2006 Chapoutier L’Ermite Blanc. The wholesaler delivered L’Oree instead. I asked 3 times for the pickup to be done. The correct wine was delivered last Thursday AM. The pickup was done this morning. It went on a non refrig truck at 10 am for the day. It is supposed to be 90 in NY today.

Wow!

I have never figured out why wineries that take such care in the vineyards and in the winery/Chateau and then don’t give a sh*t once it leaves their hands. [shrug.gif]

JD

Rick Forman was in the store a couple of weeks ago. he is now with Southern in NY. I was complaining to him about the lack of care when a Southern truck drove up to our store with a delivery.

Rick went outside and looked inside the truck and was horrified.

What did he see, exactly?

I will not post any porn shots that many are looking forward to. He saw a big truck that was non refrigerated.

Refrigerated warehouses and delivery trucks (wholesale) are still a relatively rare thing here in NJ in this day and age. There are a few warehousing companies that do it and as a matter of fact one in particular that saw a couple of big name importers come to them as a result. As much as the practice is expected it really just doesn’t exist in the real world. We practice discretion and if something comes in the receiving door in suspect condition, it is refused.