Warehousing has the largest gap between what a business thinks it is paying for and what it is actually paying for. On a half-hourly meter, available capacity is charged whether or not you use it, and a site that has changed its racking, added charging bays or removed a production line is frequently paying for capacity it no longer needs — or being penalised for exceeding what it has. That single item is worth more than most tariff negotiations.
Key takeaways
- Available capacity (kVA) is charged whether used or not — audit it after any change.
- High-bay lighting is the dominant load in most warehouses and the easiest to fix.
- Cardboard and shrink-wrap make waste a right-sizing and baling exercise.
- Stock value and the goods-in-transit gap are the insurance issues that matter.
Energy for warehousing and logistics
Lighting, capacity charges, and increasingly EV and MHE charging.
A warehouse’s load is flat and lighting-dominated. High-bay lighting over a large footprint runs whenever the site is operational, and in older facilities it is still discharge lighting that is both inefficient and slow to restrike. Beyond that, materials handling equipment charging — forklifts and increasingly electric vehicles — has quietly become a substantial and growing load that most sites have never re-baselined their capacity against.
- LED replacement with zonal and daylight controls is the highest-return measure in almost every warehouse. Aisles do not need lighting when nobody is in them.
- Audit available capacity (kVA) against actual maximum demand. Paying for unused capacity is common and entirely avoidable.
- MHE and EV charging should be scheduled off-peak where your tariff makes that worthwhile — on a half-hourly meter it frequently does.
- Dock door discipline and air curtains matter if any part of the building is heated or chilled.
Your load factor is a negotiating position
A flat, predictable, high load factor is attractive to suppliers — far more so than a spiky retail profile. Put your consumption profile in front of them when you tender rather than just asking for a price.
Waste for warehousing and logistics
Cardboard, shrink-wrap and pallets — volume, not weight.
Logistics waste is packaging: cardboard, shrink-wrap and stretch film, strapping and broken pallets. All of it is bulky and light, which is the worst possible combination under per-lift pricing. A warehouse filling general waste containers with unbaled cardboard is paying repeatedly to move air.
- A cardboard baler usually pays back quickly at warehouse volumes, and baled cardboard is often collected at a reduced rate or paid for.
- Shrink-wrap and film can be separately recycled at volume — worth asking about specifically, as it is often lumped into general.
- Broken pallets have a repair and resale market; paying to dispose of them is usually unnecessary.
- If you handle any hazardous goods, storage and disposal obligations follow the material, not the building.
Insurance for warehousing and logistics
Stock value, and the gap between premises cover and transit cover.
The insurance conversation in logistics is about goods, and specifically about whose goods they are and where they were when something happened. Stock held at the premises, goods in transit, and goods held on behalf of customers are all distinct, and the gap between them is where uninsured losses appear.
- Stock and contents — valued at peak, not average, and reviewed after any change in what you handle.
- Goods in transit, and goods held in trust or on commission for customers, which standard contents cover does not extend to.
- Employers’ liability — legally required, and materials handling is a higher-hazard employee group.
- Public liability, and product liability where you assemble, repack or label.
- Business interruption — including denial of access, which matters on shared estates.
- Fleet and haulage cover where you operate vehicles, which is a separate exercise entirely.
Racking changes and sprinkler design
Changing racking height or configuration can invalidate the fire protection design your policy assumes. Tell your insurer before you re-rack, not after — this is a well-known route to a declined fire claim in this sector.
Broadband for warehousing and logistics
WMS, scanners and telematics across a large physical footprint.
A warehouse management system, handheld scanners, telematics and increasingly automation all depend on coverage across a large, metal-racked building that is genuinely hostile to wireless. The line into the building is rarely the constraint; the network inside it usually is.
- Survey coverage across the racked footprint, not just at the office end. Racking blocks signal in ways an empty-building survey will not reveal.
- If the WMS is cloud-hosted, an outage stops picking entirely — the case for a leased line with a contractual fix time is stronger here than in most sectors.
- Failover is worth costing against an hour of stopped picking, which is usually a larger number than owners expect.
- Keep guest and driver wifi separate from the operational network.
Warehousing and logistics: frequently asked questions
What is available capacity and why are we paying for it?+
On a half-hourly metered site you agree a maximum capacity in kVA with your distribution network operator, and you are charged for that capacity whether or not you use it — with penalties if you exceed it. Sites that have removed plant, changed racking or downsized frequently keep paying for capacity they no longer need. It is worth auditing against your actual maximum demand data, and it is one of the few genuinely large savings that requires no operational change.
Is a cardboard baler worth it?+
At warehouse volumes, usually yes. Because waste is priced per lift rather than per kilo, the saving comes from removing collections rather than reducing weight — and baling compresses cardboard enough to cut collections substantially. Many carriers will also collect baled cardboard at a reduced rate or pay for it, which changes the payback calculation again. Work it against your current lift schedule before buying.
Do we need to tell our insurer about racking changes?+
Yes, and this matters more than most operators realise. Sprinkler and fire protection design is specified against a particular racking height and configuration. Changing it can put you outside the design basis your policy assumes, which is a well-known route to a fire claim being reduced or declined. Notify before the work, not after.
Last reviewed 3 September 2026. Price ranges are indicative market figures to benchmark against, not a quote.
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