Forth Worth, Texas, USA: Refrigerated trailer industry leaders discussed the feasibility of electric transport refrigeration units at the International Foodservice Distributors Association Solutions Conference in America last month.
The growth of federal and state regulations is the primary reason to electrify reefer fleets, according to Marc Trahand, vice president at ConMet. He predicted that even stricter regulations could be on the way, perhaps like those already in Europe.
“There are zones where you cannot have anything other than zero-emission vehicles,” Trahand told the conference. “Those emissions zones haven’t really been implemented here in the US, but that’s something that could come at some point. We’ve heard about California thinking about that as well.”
The panel emphasised that investing, pre-planning, and encouraging incentives for refrigerated electrification, has to happen sooner than later.
“Right now is the time because these changes are happening,” said Ryan Kemet, business development director at E-Now. “And for those businesses that begin grappling with electrification earlier, even with only a single unit, they’ll have a better idea of what their operation needs for the process, how that relates to regulations, and what operational changes they’ll need.”
Robert Koelsch, chief executive, Advanced Energy Machines, said that transitioning to electric transport refrigeration units can reduce enough carbon to account for 50% of an organisation’s carbon budget. In a state like California, this means that the costly move to electric can pay itself back in three or four years.
Trahand argued that going electric for reefer trailers will not only pay for itself, but lower a fleet’s maintenance costs too.
“Cost savings, at the end of the day, is one of the main reasons we’re going electric,” Trahand continued. “Ultimately, you’re going to see the total cost of ownership go down, whether it’s maintenance or the electric side.”
