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Dean Foods Tests Thermo King Electric-Drive Reefer
Dean Foods is testing what it calls a hybrid refrigeration unit on a Dallas-based delivery truck, and expects the prototype Thermo King electric unit to save as much as 50 percent in fuel compared to a regular diesel-powered reefer while cutting exhaust and carbon emissions.
A ceremony on Monday, June 21, featured the city's mayor and the area's congresswoman, and emphasized the "green" aspects of the test, including reduction of exhaust and carbon emissions. It is part of a fleet-wide initiative meant to remove 50,000 metric tons of carbon from the company's transportation system by 2013. This, the company said in a statement, "is equivalent to removing 9,500 cars from the road."
In daily use since March, the truck is a Class 7 International DuraStar with a Johnson insulated body cooled by a Thermo King reefer whose diesel engine stays off, explained Thermo King and Dean Foods. This not only saves fuel and reduces emissions, but also cuts noise.
Only the truck's main engine runs between deliveries; a transmission-mounted power take-off spins an 8-kilowatt alternator that makes 260-volt 3-phase power for the reefer's electric-driven compressor and other equipment. Door switches shut down the reefer during deliveries, and the truck's engine is shut off. The unit is plugged in while back at the distribution center.
Avoiding use of the reefer's diesel should yield the fuel savings, said Scott Bates, Thermo King's truck product manager. But it still resides in the nose-mounted cabinet for use as part of testing, said Liliana Esposito, Dean Foods' manager of external communications. The truck is used on a regular route delivering milk to stores from Dean's Schepps Dairy operation in Dallas.
"There are a few drivers who drive it regularly depending on their schedule," she said. "It drives like a regular delivery truck." If it tests successfully, more might be acquired. The test has not been run long enough to prove out the 50 percent fuel-savings goal, "but it looks promising."
"Our size and scale give Dean Foods the ability to implement changes in our operations that have tremendous positive impacts on the environment and for the entire food and beverage delivery industry," said Chip Jones, senior vice president of sustainability and corporate responsibility for Dean Foods. "We continuously adopt innovative technology across our 13,000-vehicle network, and collaborating with strategic suppliers like Thermo King is a critical tactic in advancing our company's sustainability goals."
The adoption of new transport refrigeration technology is part of Dean Foods' Smart Fleet initiative - an enterprise-wide effort to "green the fleet" by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants through delivery route optimization, investments in new technology, and equipment and training for drivers.
"The commitment shown by Dean Foods and Thermo King demonstrates how corporations can use innovative technology to drive environmentally sustainable practices that increase business efficiency and have positive economic impacts," said U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, who attended the ceremony marking the Dean Foods test.
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