Electric Reefers: What are They and What are Their Benefits?
Joe Dickman | May 10th, 2021
Many businesses require vehicles and trailers to transport products while keeping them frozen or refrigerated. Increasingly, refrigerated vehicles are making the change to electric reefers for their cooling needs. If you would like to know more about what electric reefers are and what their benefits are, keep reading.
What Are Reefers
Reefer is a slang term for refrigeration. Reefer refers to a specialized truck or container that utilizes temperature-controlled equipment. These reefers can be set at a wide range of temperatures to ensure products remain within their intended storage temperature during shipping.
What is an Electric Reefer
Reefers are typically powered by gas or diesel connected to the engine. However, electric trailer and vehicle refrigeration units are becoming more common. An electric reefer will use an independent battery charged separately or used in a hybrid system that cuts down significantly on fossil fuels.
Reduce Reliance on Fuel
Fuel costs have been skyrocketing for years. With traditional reefers, your cooling equipment will need to use fuel even when the vehicle is resting. These fuel costs can eat into a significant amount of your budget when you have transportation needs. Electric reefers and hybrid systems significantly reduce your fuel consumption. They also have the added benefit of requiring few stops to refuel and lowers wear and tear from stopping and starting.
Help Eliminate Worry About Keeping Engine Off
With electric reefers, the battery provides the energy to cool products. Drivers don’t have to panic about keeping their vehicle turned on to refrigerate their product safely. These instances can occur when loading and unloading, vehicle breakdowns, driver breaks, and more.
Reduce Emissions
Our impact on the environment has become a fundamental issue recently. Electrical reefers reduce the use of diesel and gasoline, whose emissions can be harmful to the environment. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, electric reefers are a perfect step in the right direction.
The professionals at Emerald Transportation Solutions are ready to meet all your refrigerated delivery truck needs. If you have any questions about the benefits of electric reefers or our products, please contact us.
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What does under DOT mean?
Questions regarding DOT requirements come up often. 10,000 lbs GVW (gross vehicle weight) and over are commercial vehicles that fall under the Department of Transportation regulatory requirements.
What is the difference between GVW and payload?
GVW or Gross Vehicle Weight is the entire weight of the vehicle including the payload. The payload weight represents the amount of cargo you are hauling.
What is a self-powered unit and a vehicle-powered unit?
A self-powered unit has its own fuel source and will run independent of the truck. This is the heaviest and most expensive option. While vehicle-powered units run off the engine via a compressor mounted on the engine. These are less expensive and lighter in weight but you must run the truck or plug the electric standby into shore power.
What does K-factor mean and why is that important?
K-factor is a term that stands for the overall insulating value of the container (truck body). Quite simply the lower the K-factor the better the truck body will be able to maintain a given temperature and require less energy to do so.
How much lighter is a Poly Van vs a US spec body?
Poly Van bodies are very light. On average we estimate we are 75-150 lbs per foot lighter than a traditional sheet and post foamed in place body. These weight savings translates to less fuel burn and less CO2 emissions, along with added payload, the most important benefit.
