Shipping a Walk-In Cooler or Freezer to Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America
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By Renato J. Alonso, Founder and President, Qube Cold Storage Solutions · Updated October 28, 2026
We are in Hialeah, minutes from the Miami freight forwarders that serve the islands and Latin America. We deliver to your forwarder or have it pick up at our dock, pack the panels for export, and confirm your site's voltage and frequency before we select the refrigeration. Puerto Rico ships as U.S. domestic freight; every other country is an export with its own paperwork.
Puerto Rico vs other countries
| Puerto Rico | Caribbean and Latin America | |
|---|---|---|
| Customs duties | None. Puerto Rico is inside U.S. customs territory | Set by the destination country |
| Documents | Bill of lading and commercial invoice; an Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing when one product line is over $2,500 | Commercial invoice, packing list, EEI filing and the destination's import documents, usually handled by your forwarder |
| How it moves | Ocean container from Florida to San Juan, then truck to the site | Your forwarder's consolidated or full container |
| Power | 60 Hz, U.S. voltages | Varies. See the table below |
How an export order runs with us
- You name your freight forwarder. Most of our export customers use one in Miami.
- We confirm power and site details before we select equipment.
- We build and pack. Panels ship flat on 4-way pallets, 40" or 48" wide and up to 14' long. We never put pressure-treated lumber under panels. The copper in it corrodes galvanized steel.
- Delivery to your forwarder, or your forwarder picks up at our dock. We send a packing list with each pallet's size and weight.
- Proof of export. Send us a copy of the export bill of lading for our file.
Will it fit in a container?
A 20' container is about 19'-4" long inside and a 40' is about 39'-5". Most walk-in pallets fit a 20'. Rooms with long ceiling panels, glass-door fronts and two refrigeration systems usually need a 40'. Your forwarder can quote both once we send the packing list.
50 Hz or 60 Hz: check before anything is ordered
Refrigeration built for 60 Hz runs about 17% slower on 50 Hz power. It loses capacity, and its motors are not rated for it. Most of the Caribbean and Central America is 60 Hz, but not all of it.
| Frequency | Countries and territories |
|---|---|
| 60 Hz | Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname |
| 50 Hz | Jamaica, Barbados, Curaçao, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay |
This is a guide, not a guarantee. Voltage varies even where the frequency matches. Haiti's three-phase service, for example, can be 220/380 V or 110/220 V. Send us a photo of the electrical panel or the utility's service letter. More on power in walk-in cooler electrical requirements.
Lead times for export jobs
We confirm the lead time on every quote. The slowest item sets the ship date, and it is often the doors: glass display doors and specialty doors take longer than the box and the refrigeration. Ocean transit and customs time come from your forwarder. If your deadline is tight, tell us on day one.
Plan for service far from a supply house
- Two systems instead of one on critical rooms. If one fails, the other holds the product while parts travel.
- Equipment your local technician knows. Before you order, ask your tech which brands and refrigerants they can service and buy locally. We select to that.
- Spare parts in the crate. Fan motors, a defrost timer and a thermostat cost little to ship with the order.
- Seaside sites: ask us about coil protection for condensing units in salt air.
From the field
A Florida dealer sent us a 16' x 30' x 12' freezer for a bakery in Haiti, shipping through a forwarder in Miami. We designed it with two independent 5 HP class systems, so one failure would not cost the bakery its product, plus a 3/4" plywood reinforced floor for bakery carts and an interior ramp. With the quote we confirmed the power in writing: 208 to 230 V three-phase for the condensing units, single-phase for the evaporators, and 60 Hz. On a five-door glass cooler for Honduras, the glass doors set the schedule, not the box. We planned the ship date around them from the first quote.
Shipping a walk-in out of the U.S.? Tell us the destination, your forwarder and the site's power, and we quote it ready for export.
Questions people ask
Do you ship to Puerto Rico?
Yes. It ships as U.S. domestic freight, by ocean container from Florida.
Can my forwarder pick up at your dock?
Yes. Tell us the forwarder and we coordinate the pickup date.
Do you sell FOB?
Yes. We quote FOB our dock in Hialeah or delivered to your forwarder in Miami.
Do you install outside the U.S.?
Installation is by others. We supply the drawings, submittals and packing list your installer needs.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Mains electricity by country