Why is cold storage the most expensive area?
Because on top of the floor you pay for insulation, refrigeration and energy, all year round, whether the room is full or empty.
And every time the door opens for a forklift, part of that cold escapes.
What it is
It is the same cart that works inside the rack channel, built to operate inside the cold room. Lubricants and components change, as do condensation and ice handling, battery performance and the airlocks between zones.
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The storage logic and the software are the same.
In practice
In a cold room every cubic metre costs more than in the rest of the warehouse, and it is the worst place to work. Automating it densifies the expensive volume and takes people out of the cold.
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Temperature defines the equipment: the shuttle robot works down to −25 °C; colder than that, the stacker crane applies, reaching −30 °C.
What a cold store shuttle robot actually is
The figure that decides: −25 °C for the shuttle, −30 °C for the stacker crane
Before talking about density, layout or budget, one question has to be settled: what temperature does your chamber actually run at. The shuttle robot goes down to −25 °C.
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The pallet stacker crane goes down to −30 °C. Five degrees that in practice separate two different projects, each with its own structure, rhythm and cost. And the figure to bring to the survey is not the nominal temperature on the control panel but the real working one: measured at the coldest point, at the worst moment of the cycle, with the chamber loaded and in full operation. A chamber declared at −22 °C that reads −27 °C at the back after an unloading is a different chamber. Starting here avoids the worst possible ending to a project: discovering the thermal limit once the equipment has been bought. If you do not have the measurement, it is taken during the survey.
What changes inside the chamber: lubricants, ice and batteries
Cold attacks the equipment from four sides. Lubricants thicken, so the ones formulated for low temperature are used; otherwise the cart starts demanding more than it should of every movement.
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Moisture turns into ice: every time something crosses from the chamber to ambient conditions, water condenses on it, and that water freezes on the next cycle over guides, sensors and contacts. That is why routes, dwell times and defrost routines are settled before anything is installed. Batteries perform differently in the cold: they deliver less and charge worse, so the charging area and the cycle times are sized with that built in. And finally there are the airlocks and curtains between zones, where the automation project meets the refrigeration one: they settle where the load passes through, how much cold air is lost at each pass and what equipment can stand on each side.
The saving you cannot see: every door opening costs energy
Premium industrial rent in Greater Buenos Aires stands at USD 7.33 per m² per month (CBRE, second quarter of 2026), and on top of that baseline a cold store adds insulation, plant and energy. That is where a cost appears that no racking quotation shows: the cold that escapes.
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In a chamber run with forklifts the door opens on every movement, stays open while the machine goes in or out and lets through warm, humid air that then has to be cooled and dried again. That same air is what forms the ice on the floor and on the evaporators. An automated system changes the pattern: the load enters and leaves through a defined point, with fewer openings and for less time, and the interior no longer needs permanent lighting or people moving about. We do not publish an energy saving figure because it depends on your chamber; it is calculated during the survey, with your own movements.
The people who work inside the cold today
A frozen chamber is a hostile workplace. Thermal clothing slows everything down, visibility drops with the fog, and the shift is organised around compulsory recovery breaks outside the cold: an hour worked yields less than the same hour in an ambient warehouse.
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The employer cost of a warehouse operative is USD 965 per month, around USD 11,580 a year, under collective agreement 40/89 for the logistics branch as of June 2026, with social charges accounting for 34.6% of labour cost (IARAF, February 2026). In a chamber that cost per unit moved rises, because the same person moves less. Automating does not delete the job: it moves it to the other side of the door, to the picking aisle, to system control and to maintenance, where a person is productive and does not freeze.
What defines a shuttle project in a cold store?
We do not publish model-by-model specification tables: the detailed sheet comes with the assessment, sized against your operation. These are the criteria the choice is made on.
The real working temperature
The first criterion and the most final: down to −25 °C the shuttle applies; colder than that the stacker crane does, going down to −30 °C. It is measured at the coldest point and at the worst moment of the cycle, not on the control panel.
The crossing between cold and ambient
Where the chamber ends and the ambient warehouse begins settles airlocks, curtains, condensation and defrost routines. It is the layout decision with the greatest impact on maintenance, and it is best taken before choosing equipment.
Turnover and volume per reference
A deep channel is paid for in despatch order. In cold storage that combines with expiry dates and batches, so settle whether you need the oldest goods out first and plan for channels with access at both ends.
Clear height and floor condition of the chamber
Automated systems work between 7 and 40 metres. Height is measured to the lowest interfering point, evaporators included, and the floor is verified on site: flatness and permissible load decide whether the cart runs evenly.
How many people are inside the cold today
Count the person-hours worked inside the chamber and the recovery breaks the shift demands. That figure, crossed with the employer cost of an operative, is half the business case; the other half is the volume you gain, which can reach three times current density.
When is automating the cold store the wrong move?
With a small cold room, almost always no: the fixed cost of the system is not spread over enough positions.
Nor with low turnover, nor with poorly built pallets, because the cart needs a stable load unit and in the cold that matters more. If the room runs colder than −25 °C, the stacker crane applies. And if the room is about to be redesigned, layout comes first.
Frequently asked questions
Can't find your question?Write to us and we reply within one business day.
Tell us about your case01How cold can a shuttle robot work?
Down to −25 °C. If your chamber runs colder, the right machine is the pallet stacker crane, which goes down to −30 °C. The measurement that settles the system is the real working temperature, taken at the coldest point and at the worst moment of the cycle, not the nominal figure shown on the control panel.
02What is done about condensation and ice?
They are handled by design, not by corrective maintenance. You settle the points where the load crosses from cold to ambient, the airlocks or curtains separating the zones, the dwell times on each side and the defrost routines. Components and lubricants are the ones formulated for low temperature.
03How much energy does automating the chamber save?
It depends on your chamber, and we do not publish a loose figure because it would lead to a bad decision. The mechanism is clear enough: an automated system opens fewer doors and for less time, so less warm, humid air gets in. The calculation is made during the survey, with your own movements per hour.
04How long does installing a cold store system take?
Automated systems take 3 to 4 months from the purchase order, and in a chamber you add coordination with the refrigeration contractor and the definition of airlocks. Before deciding you receive the survey, the layout and the technical sheet calculated for your own chamber.
Other systems
Further reading
Before quoting,measure the real temperature of the chamber
The survey settles working temperature, zone crossings, clear height and floor condition, and with that it is clear whether a shuttle or a stacker crane applies. Then come the layout, the technical sheet and the quotation.