When it comes to cold freight delivery, how often you order can have just as much impact on your delivery cost as what you order. Understanding how courier pricing works can help you make small changes that add up to real savings over time.
Why delivery frequency matters
Cold transport is priced per shipment. That means each delivery carries a base cost, regardless of whether the box is small or large. When orders are placed more frequently, that base cost is paid again and again.
In simple terms:
- Smaller, frequent orders = higher delivery cost per kilogram
- Larger, less frequent orders = lower delivery cost per kilogram
This is especially important for refrigerated and frozen deliveries, where extra handling, insulation, and temperature‑controlled transport are required.
The smarter way to reduce delivery costs
One of the most effective ways to reduce what you spend on delivery is to extend the time between orders while increasing the order size.
For example:
- Weekly orders → consider switching to fortnightly
- Fortnightly orders → consider switching to every 4 weeks
By ordering more, less often, you:
- Spread the courier cost across more product
- Reduce the total number of cold shipments
- Lower your overall delivery costs over time
Many customers are surprised to find that even a small increase in freezer storage can result in noticeable savings across the year.
Why this approach works so well
Cold freight costs don’t scale evenly with order size. A slightly larger box does not cost twice as much to ship but sending two separate boxes almost always does.
That means:
- One larger shipment is usually cheaper than two smaller ones
- Fewer deliveries = fewer courier fees
- Your cost per meal goes down, even if your order value goes up
Cold Courier
We are committed to passing courier charges on at cost only, without adding mark‑ups or fuel levy's. Like many businesses using temperature‑controlled transport, we’re also absorbing additional fuel and pickup costs to help keep the overall impact as low as possible.
When customers are able to order less frequently, it helps:
- Reduce overall freight pressure
- Keep delivery pricing more predictable
- Support stable product pricing over time
Need help finding the right balance?
Everyone’s freezer space and household needs are different. If you’d like help working out the most cost‑effective order size or delivery frequency for you, we’re always happy to help.
A small adjustment to how often you order can make a meaningful difference to your ongoing costs without changing what you feed your pet.