Walsall, UK: Meat wholesaler Tican Chilled is making savings by running a pair of Hultsteins’ hydraulic drive fridges.
The slimline systems are on two Chereau bodies 18-tonne, compressed natural gas powered, Scanias. The fridges use an hydraulic pump driven by the power take-off on the vehicle’s engine. The hydraulic drive powers the fridge compressor directly, not by converting it to electric, which is not as efficient.
Tican began using the Hultsteins units in late 2020, and the two Scanias now have close to 18 months of service. Ian Adderley, group operations manager, Tican Chilled, said: “We really get a lot from them, and we save about 30% on fuel across the whole truck – including the CNG – compared to an equivalent diesel – they’re a lot cleaner than the diesel fridges and just better overall.”
“It’s going to cost us more to run our diesel trucks because of the red diesel situation, [the red diesel rebated ended in April] so I wouldn’t be surprised if the savings on the CNG vehicles with electric TRUs actually creeps up to 40% or more,” he says.
The two units are the first in the UK to be fitted with Hultsteins’ Intelli Start. Developed in Sweden, the autonomous system is integrated into the software of the Scania trucks and allows the refrigeration system to start and stop the truck engine when parked, to maintain temperature at all times.
Tican says the hydraulic units have been more reliable than equivalent diesel units during their time on the fleet, which is typical of a system with fewer moving parts.
“We’ve had no breakdowns at all, which is really good, but we’ve had a couple of issues with conventional diesel units over the past 12 months or so. It’s nothing huge, but there’s been a noticeable difference between them and the electric ones, which are definitely better for vehicle uptime,” Adderley said.
He anticipates adding more Hultsteins fridges as the company expands its alternative-fuel vehicle fleet, with the units fitted to new, clean trucks as they enter service.
