Refrigerator truck

A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry (also called a reefer), is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated hardside (box) semi-trailers, although insulated curtainsiders are common in some countries. Occasionally, refrigerated trailers have been used as temporary morgues,^[1] and second-hand refrigerated trailers are frequently sold for use in tiny home conversions due to their insulation and existing status as a vehicle.^{[citation needed]}

The deceased being loaded into a trailer

G-3 Resources LLC Truck

Articulated lorry with refrigerated trailer

History

The first successful mechanically refrigerated trucks were made for the ice cream industry in 1925.^[2] American inventor Frederick McKinley Jones is known to be the first person to invent a refrigerated truck. There were around 4 million refrigerated road vehicles in use in 2010 worldwide.^[3]

Features

Like refrigerator cars, refrigerated trucks differ from simple insulated and ventilated vans (commonly used for transporting fruit), neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus.

Refrigerator trucks can be ice-cooled, equipped with any one of a variety of mechanical refrigeration systems powered by small displacement engines, or utilize carbon dioxide (either as dry ice or in liquid form) as a cooling agent.

They are often equipped with small "vent doors" at the rear and front of the trailer. The purpose of these doors is to be kept open while hauling non-refrigerated cargo (often "backhaul"), so as to air out the trailer.^[4]

See also

• Transport portal

• Cold chain
• Fuel cell auxiliary power unit
• Reefer (container)
• Reefer ship
• Refrigerated van
• Refrigerator car
• Temperature data logger

References

1. "Refrigerated trucks requested in Texas and Arizona as morgues fill up due to coronavirus deaths". CBS News. 15 July 2020.
2. "Chapter 30: Refrigerated Trucks and Trailers". The Refrigerating Data Book. American Society of Refrigerating Engineers. 1952. pp. 9–237. About 1925, the ice cream industry pioneered the first successful mechanically operated refrigerated trucks, which were operated by methyl chloride condensing units. A generator, driven by a gasoline engine, supplied the power for the compressor motor.
3. "6.2.2 Road Transport". 2010 Report of the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps Technical Options Committee (PDF) (Report). UNEP. February 2011. p. 94. ISBN 978-9966-20-002-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
4. "This Is What That Little Door On The Back Of Truck Trailers Is For". Jalopnik. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.

Bibliography

• Prentice, B. E., & Benell, D. (1992). "Determinants of empty returns by US refrigerated trucks: conjoint analysis approach". Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, 40(1), 109-127. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7976.1992.tb03680.x (abstract).

External links

• Guideline for long refrigerated trailers in Queensland Archived 2014-01-13 at the Wayback Machine // Queensland Government, August 2006
• Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications, 4/e, ISBN 0073398128 (2011) Chapter 17-8 "Transportation of Refrigerated Foods" page 17-41
• UNIT 7 AIR CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT AND THEIR APPLICATIONS // IGNOU, School of Engineering & Technology, BME - 032; chapter 7.5 TRANSPORT REFRIGERATION - section "7.5.1 Refrigerated Trucks and Trailers", page 103