The porch is actually on the first floor. It is an non insulated area in front of the house. I did just order the forged hitch for the trailer to replace the classic burley hitch so that will make things much easier. With my rack the Classic hitch is a PTA. I guess my big question is if I need to bring the trailer into the house everyday, Drop money on a rear or front seat for the little tyke, or just get a tarp and lock the trailer in a snowbank every dnight. I hope with the new hitch I can just bring everything onto the porch.