The importance of temperature-controlled transport

Temperature-controlled transport has always been one of the more sophisticated sectors in the road transport industry. Operators are very aware of the environmental impact of the vehicles, and are prepared to invest in safety improvements and in improving operational efficiency. The dominance of dual-temperature bodies of the past few years seems finally to have slowed. "They do offer flexibility but not everyone needs to pay for that," says Jarvis MacDonald, MD of Trumac, the bodybuilder which has been created following a management buyout of the GRP Group's Westbury body and trailer builder division.

MacDonald says the hot summer has made operators aware of the need to be careful about specifications for temperature-controlled transport. "The level of panel insulation and the size of the refrigeration unit are crucial in maintaining the correct temperature," he says. While a 50mm thick panel is typically recommended for chill operations and 75mm for frozen, MacDonald says any operation with a high drop frequency should consider 75mm panels for chill and 100mm for frozen. Rental companies often specify freezer specifications, says MacDonald. "It provides flexibility to offer dual-temperature body with a removable bulkhead. Electric standby allows trailers to be used as temporary cold stores and improves residual values. "

UK operators still demand bespoke temperature-controlled bodywork, say the manufacturers. "It is about tailoring the body to the operation and no two operations are identical," says Stephen Cartwright of the Cartwright Group. "Even on the same wheelbase, the ideal body size can vary by 300mm or 400mm. " Gray and Adams director Peter Gray says that for some operations, bespoke represents the best value. "Multi-temperature and double-deck trailers do limit the ability to pick up back loads but against that has to be set the operational and environmental benefits of being able to deliver everything to one store in a single drop. Multi-temperature vehicles offer savings in fuel and running costs, and fewer emissions because you need fewer vehicles to deliver the same amount of product."

Dual temperature vehicles with a transverse bulkhead are less flexible, he points out. "Access to the front load compartment can be an issue for multi-drop deliveries. Multi-lane trailers allow you to easily mix pallets and cages on the same vehicle and to offload from the rear against a dock or with a tail-lift," says Gray. Lamberet claims its new SR2 trailer is the first to offer 33-pallet capacity on a dual-temperature trailer. Flush rear doors extend the usable interior length by 40mm to 13.39m. The SR2 also has a 2.7m interior height, yet remains within the legal maximum height limit of 4m on standard 385/65-22/5in tyres thanks to a wheelarch profile that lowers the trailer floor.