With multimodal transport, a lot of these problems and limitations are circumvented. Need a large haul of fish transported from Norway to Spain? Instead of sending out a fleet of trucks, the cargo can be transported cheaper and easier on a cargo freighter, which fits up to 700 times the volume of a trailer. After a crane picks it off the ship, the container can be slotted onto a delivery truck to transport it to its final destination. But with a rising number of stops, comes an increase in complexity and errors, and we know you can’t afford that. That’s why Thermo King has taken great care to ensure your cargo stays safe, no matter the route, no matter the number of stops. With precise temperature control and real-time data tracking, you can ship your cargo with confidence. So let’s take a look around the multimodal supply chain and how our units can help along the way.

Thermo King’s End to End cooling solutions

Marine Transport

Not only is transport by sea the most climate-neutral option, it’s also the safest one. Data shows that rate of cargo theft is lowest on sea, with less than one percent of all instances of theft taking place on freighters. Our Thermo King units will also keep it safe from the high temperatures on the open seas.

With average cargo ship holding over 15,000 containers, it might seem like yours will get lost in the pile! But thanks to TracKing, you can keep a close eye on your cargo no matter where in the world it may find itself. Keep track of your cargo’s temperature, the unit’s fuel level and much more, straight from your desktop. If you cargo has to wait at a terminal, you can keep an eye out and respond to challenges immediately, however far away you are.

When it comes to our units, Thermo King’s offering is comprehensive. The Container Fresh & Frozen is the result of decades long experience in refrigerated transport, with the most accurate controller on the market. The Magnum Plus is perfect for those wanting to reduce their carbon footprint. And for those wanting to discover the true meaning, the Superfreezer pulls your cargo down to artic temperatures, with a reach of up to -70°C.

Whatever cargo you need to transport across the oceans, Thermo King will protect it from start to finish.

Road Transport

Of course, once the cargo arrives at port, there is still the needs to get it to its final destination! From long haul to the last mile, our units are there to get your cargo to the finish line. For larger vehicles, our landmark A-Series is the most fuel-efficient trailer unit on the market, bringing you incredible fuel-savings and helping to reduce your carbon footprint.

Our new V-1000 is the best of both worlds in truck refrigeration. A unit with all the cooling power of a diesel-powered device combined with the compact design, fuel-saving technology of a unit powered by the  vehicle’s unit. The V-1000 is available in several single and multitemp configurations, offering your fleet remarkable flexibility.

For smaller vans that need to breach the last mile, our E-200 and B-100 units are perfect. Small, quiet and fully-electric, both units comply with the regulations present in the inner cities. Be it Q(uick)-commerce or at-home grocery delivery, your cargo is kept cool. For fleets that only transport cooler cargo occasionally, our ColdCube™  is the flexible solution you need. These units can be installed and uninstalled, meaning you don’t need to invest in a dedicated transport vehicle.

Whatever cargo needs to traverse the road, Thermo King has the perfect solution to keep it at the optimal temperature.

Air Transport

To transport precious cargo aboard planes, Thermo King has teamed up with Envirotainer. Available in two sizes, our air-traffic containers are battery operated and can function autonomously for up to 100 hours. The Air100-RKN e1 is the smaller of the two, but every bit as powerful as its bigger brother. It features an internal refrigerated volume of 2,3m³, equivalent to roughly one pallet. Its big brother, the Air200’s refrigerated volume is 8,2m³, approximately 4 to 5 pallets. Designed for the rigorous demands of the pharmaceutical industry, the units can go down to +2°C. As the need for air cargo transport has grown over the last few years, the transport industry spans the entire globe.

 Global Support

Thanks to our Dealer Network, this global transport industry is no problem for Thermo King customers. Whatever support you might require, qualified assistance is never more than a phone call away Wherever you are in the world, a dealer specialized in the mode of transport you need is always available to help you. To track your shipment across the entire cold chain, you can rely on Thermo King’s Connected Solutions. Wherever your cargo is, you will be able to instantly respond to any challenge that might appear.

A SOLUTION FOR GLOBAL CHALLENGES

In today’s global economy, the single-unit model is no longer the shortest road to efficiency. With Thermo King by your side to keep your cargo cold across its journey, multimodal transport offers your fleet a range of positives and opportunities, for your bottom-line to your carbon footprint.

Looking for the perfect multimodal partner: contact your dealer.

Today’s economic model is organised along a straight line. Resources are taken from the earth, manufactured into products, which are then discarded. The whole process can be summarized as ‘take, make, waste’. This model is not only inefficient, it’s also unsustainable. Eventually, we’ll  run out of resources to take. An alternative to this wasteful model is a more circular approach. Instead of ‘take, make, waste’, the circular model aims for the well-known ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ saying, but on an industrial level. The goal of this model is that minimal resources are lost and discarded. Instead, once a product reaches its final stage of life, it’s reused instead of getting discarded.

Thermo King has long been committed to sustainability. In 2017, the Galway plant, our oldest European factory, became fully carbon neutral. This means 230 million tonnes less waste in landfills per year. Everything in Galway is either recyclable or made to last. That’s not only good for the environment, but also for the bottom line. The switch from wooden to steel pallets, for example, saves the facility over one million euros per year. “Measures implemented at Galway have been effective and show that environmental sustainability is the right call for everyone, including our bottom line,” says the local operations director at Thermo King.

Waste not, want not

Our push for sustainability doesn’t stop at the Galway plant: “The work doesn’t stop just because we’ve reached our zero waste to landfill goal. This is an ongoing process. We continue to look for alternative recycling methods and opportunities to further reduce our impact on the environment,” he says. The next step in Thermo King’s push for sustainability is the introduction of a Remanufactured Parts program.

What does that look like, exactly? Well, let’s have a closer look at the lifecycle of a Thermo King part under this new program. The first two years after purchase, a Thermo King part is covered by a full warranty. If anything goes wrong, the client gets a complete replacement. Over the course of a part’s life, regular maintenance is needed. The amount needed varies per part. Some technology needs replacement instead of maintenance, and some parts, like batteries are consumed entirely.

The newly introduced Remanufactured Parts programs means that, for controllers, at the end of the life cycle – or in the event of a breakdown – the controller is taken apart and the components that can be reused are salvaged. From these components, new, fully functional controllers are re-manufactured. These are put through rigorous tests to ensure the same quality as original, factory made controllers. If a part does report a failure, data is collected and sent to the Thermo King Aftermarket team to learn from and improve the process.

The dealers’ response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. Not only does the program ensure a significant reduction in waste, our dealers like the flexibility the program offers! Customers that don’t want to invest a great amount of money into one of their older cooling units will still have access to more affordable, genuine Thermo King controllers. It also helped ensure the availability of controllers during the recent semiconductor shortage, a walking testament to the wastefulness of the current linear economy.

And the future?

As a brand in the Trane Technologies family, Thermo King is committed to a more green and sustainable future. They have joined Trane Technologies in their Gigaton Challenge, which aims to reduce one billion metric tons of their customer’s footprint by 2030. The remanufactured parts program is still young and at present only covers controllers. But the program is full of ambition and looks to grow! Soon, it will be expanded to also include compressors, demonstrating Thermo King’s dedication to a more sustainable, circular economy!