Cold-chain, frozen ship-nationwide vs refrigerated local, what changes?

Two completely different fulfillment patterns, never share the same packaging / carrier rules.

Frozen ship-nationwide, FedEx Express overnight, 2-3 lb dry ice, 1.5-inch EPS foam, 36-48 hour cold-hold. Used for: cakes, cookie dough, ice-cream-filled pastries, anything that must reach the customer below 32°F. Packaging cost $8-15/box. ZIP-transit cutoff blocks > 1-day delivery (no AK/HI/remote MT). FedEx ORM-D dry-ice labeling. Sunday no-delivery rule.

Refrigerated local, DoorDash Drive or Uber Direct with insulated cooler bag (carrier-provided), 90-minute door-to-door window. Used for: cream-filled pastries, mousses, fresh-cream cakes, anything 35-40°F. No dry ice. Packaging is a $1-2 insulated bag, not a $10 foam box. Distance limit ~15 miles. Customer SMS tracking via carrier API.

Magento attribute cold_chain_class on each SKU has 4 values: ambient (no cold), refrigerated-local-only (DoorDash + insulated bag, no ship), frozen-ship-only (FedEx dry-ice, no local), both (frozen for ship + refrigerated for local). ShipperHQ rules read this attribute on cart load and only offer the matching shipping methods. Cold-chain HACCP-compliant temperature log appended to every shipment (carrier API for local, internal log for FedEx).

Mixing the two patterns is the #1 bakery e-com failure mode. A cream-filled éclair shipped FedEx Express dry-ice arrives shattered + frozen-solid; a chocolate ganache cake out for 4-hour DoorDash delivery on a 95°F day arrives liquid. Tag every SKU correctly, then let the rules do the routing.