L&MT Magazine: A Glimpse Into the Future of Reefers

(Transport Topics) Light & Medium Truck magazine cover, July 2001.

One of the biggest changes on the horizon for truck refrigeration and reefer bodies is satellite monitoring of truck body temperatures from a remote location. Monitoring and changes to the temperature inside the truck will be done from someone behind a desk back at the terminal or headquarters. "You'll be able to track everything, even know if the driver is asleep along the side of the road," said Randy Porter, senior director of sales for Kidron Inc.

This moved toward remote control is being driven by the public's demand that better, health-ier food be delivered in better condition, and it is made possible by recent advances in satellite communications. Also, said Porter, truck body temperature monitoring has caught the eye of Uncle Sam, and it's only a matter of time before he gets involved. "The players in the market are trying to get ahead of the game," he added.

Porter was referring specifically to HACCP (Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point), a federal regulation that requires documentation of the entire food process from the time the product leaves the harvest point (or in cases of meat and poultry, from the point of origin) until the destination is reached.

"Everything will have to be documented-temperature controls, how the product was pack-aged, how it was handled, the monitoring of temperatures, the number of door openings, recovery time of refrigeration units - all of it has to be documented," Porter said.

For the full story, see the July 2001 print edition of Light & Medium Truck. Subscribe today.

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