News

Carrier Transicold has an established position in the heavy truck, trailer and van fridge arena, but its profile in the vans sector may not have been recognised by all operators. In recent times however it has been strengthened by the success of the Advantage programme allied to the introduction of a range of compact, innovative, and efficient refrigeration systems. "Being part of a huge global company - United Technologies Corporation - means that we can draw on extensive technical resources,"  says UK sales and marketing director, Andy Jarvis. "Most of our competitors in the light commercial market don't have this resource available to them.

"Many small van operators do not realise the level of support and service that is available to them through our network," he adds. Carrier Transicold has been involved in forging strong links with bodybuilders who specialise in converting vans to temperature controlled specifications and in building fridge bodies on light commercial chassis. "We keep an extensive range of products on the shelf and can arrange delivery to a bodybuilder within 24 hours," he says. The company offers fixed price maintenance contracts under the Golden Cold banner. They are tailored to meet the needs of the operator, with options from two years onwards available. This is backed up by a 24-hour breakdown service co-ordinated by Carrier Assistance.

Carrier Transicold is especially proud of its parts operation. "Our central warehouse regularly achieves  a first pick rate of around 98%, and we can get parts delivered within 24 hours if necessary," Jarvis says. "Our network service partners - we've got eight independent and one wholly-owned - operate under the Carrier Transicold brand. They carry extensive parts stocks tailored to meet the needs of operators in their local area." The direct drive van fridge unit line-up is now being extended with the launch of the Viento and Neos. "The Viento is manufactured in three versions - the 200, the 300, and the 350," explains Jarvis. "The last two are in production now, while the 200 will be available from early next year onwards. "They cover everything from small car-derived vans to large panel vans with cargo areas of up to 28cu m, and with power outputs of from 1,900 watts to 3,470 watts."

Although it offers the same performance and airflow, Viento does not replace the existing Xarios range. Instead, it is aimed at a different group of users who are looking for something less sophisticated for both chilled and fully frozen applications. "Viento is considerably lighter than Xarios, and that's good news for operators who are payload-conscious," Jarvis continues. The other newcomer is the electrically-driven Neos 100. Designed for vans with a cargo area capacity of up to 6cu m - versions suitable for bigger vehicles are in development - it is unusual in being delivered pre-charged with refrigerant and pre-tested by the factory. The refrigeration circuit is closed during installation. Fitting time is cut by around 50% when compared with that of rival products.

"It's four to six hours as opposed to 12 to 14 hours," says Jarvis. "Closing the refrigerant circuit in this way eliminates one of the key reliability issues for traditional systems the risk of leakage at installation," he adds. "The benefits for the end-user and the environment are obvious." Neos 100 depends on the van's alternator for power and is not affected by the engine's speed. Furthermore, at a mere 58mm the roof-top box has a slim profile, can be fitted to all types of van, and can be finished in the same colour as the rest of the bodywork. It is a package that is ideal for all temperature-controlled applications. A growing number of UK firms running refrigerated light commercials are interested in dual compartments - one chilled, one frozen - he says. However the tendency is for them to specify temporary bulkheads plus a fan kit that will blow cold air from the frozen to the chilled section.

The drawback of this arrangement is that it does not provide the degree of control over the temperature in each compartment offered by twin evaporators. "Consequently we would not necessarily recommend fan kits and we suspect that ever-tighter legislation will increasingly push operators down the multi-temperature application route with a dual evaporator," he says. Carrier Transicold offers a true multi-temperature application enabling chilled and hot air to be supplied concurrently to either compartment. This is offered by no other UK competitor. For 18- to 26-tonners Carrier Transicold has the Supra range available, and can offer operators the choice of either a front-mounted or an underslung unit. "Quite a few people are going for the latter, especially if they've specified big cabs, because big cabs can take up a lot of the space in front of the body," he says. As a consequence there may be insufficient room for a nose-mounted package.

Unlike the units fitted to vans, Supra is not direct drive. Instead, it is driven by its own diesel engine power supply. "Remember that you can fit a 10m body onto an 18-tonne chassis, and refrigerating that is going to draw a lot of power from the truck's own engine if you use a direct-drive system," Jarvis says. As a consequence the operator may have to specify a more powerful truck than he would ideally like, complete with a power take-off. That adds cost and is likely to impact on the vehicle's fuel consumption. Moving further up the weight range, Carrier Transicold is still achieving a remarkable level of success in the refrigerated trailer market with its Vector and Maxima units. "Vector is the most powerful unit of its type on sale today and pulls temperatures down quickly," he continues. Carrier Transicold is the only manufacturer able to offer hot or cold air in different compartments at the same time.

A less powerful unit, Maxima can handle two or three compartments. Unlike Vector it does not provide the customer with the ability to download data remotely. "With Vector it's possible to track the unit's position via GPRS and download a variety of information remotely," he says. "That includes performance, temperature and door openings. "A growing number of operators are making use of this facility," he adds. "They want to be able to manage product while it's on the move, and there is considerable pressure on them to comply with legislation."