Heavy Duty Trucking, May 2018

HDT MAY 2018 86 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM he logistics industry changes as U S food consumption patterns change says Mark Ehrlich director van product line at Wabash National Equipment is changing as modes of transportation shift in response to the consumption trend Like the rest of the industry refrigerated transporters are struggling to find and keep drivers Meanwhile outside factors range from regulations to the growing popularity of fresh convenience foods and e commerce Last mile and fresh foodAccording to Statistica U S annual online grocery sales amounted to about 142 billion in 2017 and are expected to rise to nearly 30 billion by 2021 Paul Jarossy director of marketing and new business development for Morgan Corp says retailers are looking for lower weight delivery vehicles that allow for drivers without a commercial drivers license Smaller chassis like Ford Transits and Spinter vans are becoming more popular for that segment It also means that the weight of the body is crucial Morgans new home grocery body is based on its NexGen platform that uses weight saving composite walls That allows them to add more cargo capacity with a smaller chassis Its not just home delivery Look at Sheetz Jarossy says This booming convenience store chain also offers burgers pizzas sandwiches salads and other quick service foods you can even order online for pickup They move product from depot to stores and there are a lot of stores in the delivery area so they need to get in and out quickly Even some of the medium duty larger reefers are too big so theyre looking for the smaller trucks Focusing on efficiencyFor the refrigerated box itself and the refrigeration unit that keeps it cold efficiency is more important than ever 1 2 For instance Carrier Transicold says its latest X4 units consume 5 to 22 less fuel than the models they succeeded and Vector units consume up to 26 less fuel than previous models On top of that electric standby allows reefer units to be plugged into AC power and run without the diesel engine while parked Carrier Transicolds David Brondum director product management and sustainability notes that beyond simple fuel savings freight efficiency encompasses how many tons of freight are moved with a given amount of fuel Carrier has cut the weight in its current lineup Brondum says Unit weight savings can be greater than 350 pounds allowing more cargo to be loaded The North American Council on Freight Efficiency estimates the value of weight saved for a refrigerated van to be 2 to 5 per pound based on fuel savings and revenue generation potential So a 350 pound weight savings may equate to a value of up to 1750 Solar power is another efficiency play Third party vendors offer add on solar panels ThermoKing offers ThermoLite panels which can help lower fuel consumption and reduce emissions while extending battery life We 5 trends affecting reefers Multi temp trailers like this Utility 3000R are especially affected by trends such as more fresh delivery and food safety regs Challenges are impacting refrigerated transporters and the equipment they buy are finding that as customers adopt solar as a supplemental fleet power source their reefers dont have to restart as often in order to charge batteries in turn our customers are saving fuel explains Doug Lenz Thermo Kings vice president product management marketing and business development Driver factors duty cyclesAs many fleets move to shorter hauls to get drivers home more often and as new electronic logging rules put more pressure on loading and unloading times trailers are taking more of a beating says Craig Bennett senior vice president of sales and marketing at Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co You have more forklift traffic on the floors hitting the walls hitting the wear bands and the rear end of the trailer that bangs into the docks On top of that he adds everythings about speed because of mandatory ELDs get the trailer loaded and unloaded fast So the forklift drivers they dont really care that much about what happens to the wall or the floor Theyre paid for speed not delicacy Trailer makers are responding with more standard and optional features to 3 By Deborah Lockridge Editor in Chief dlockridge@ truckinginfo com TRAILERS BODIES T