Hatfield, UK: Ocado has ordered 27 Advancer A400 trailer fridges from Marshall Fleet Solutions.
It is part of a 46 all-Thermo King trailer fridge order for its upgrade, supplied by Thermo King dealer Marshall Fleet Solutions.
The TK Advancer A400 units are fitted on Paneltex single-temperature, double-deck trailers used for trunking from Ocado’s four main warehouses to regional sites.
Graham Thomas, fleet operations manager – truck, Ocado said: “The improved unit functionality and airflow, as well as distinct advantages in fuel economy, means that the cost of ownership of the trailers with Advancers is a far better proposition for our business.”
“We decided to increase the number of Advancers in our double deck fleet order this year, with a total of 27 new trailers being specified with Advancers and now going into service over the next few months,” Thomas said.
The trailer fleet upgrade uses Thermo King Advancer or SLXi fridges supplied, installed, and maintained by Marshall Fleet Solutions.
“From the very early days in our fleet, Advancer looked to be a game changer for us. We worked closely with both Marshall Fleet Solutions and Paneltex to incorporate as many Advancers as possible into our double deck fleet as quickly as possible,” Thomas said.
All 27 Thermo King Advancer fridges are on Paneltex 13.6m tri-axle, single-compartment, double-deck trailers that will cover 135,000km a year trunking.
“Over the last 12 months during the pandemic, demand for our business has been insatiable with no signs of this dropping off as online home shopping becomes the new normal. Each of these TK Advancer trailers can hold the equivalent of 12 vans of groceries so they are playing a vital role in ensuring our business and operational needs are fully met,”Thomas said.
Ocado has 264 trailers (40 ambient trailers). Double deck temperature-controlled trailers account for 147 of the refrigerated trailers with the remaining 77 trailers split between standard single and multi-temperature models.
