To help control food temperatures during transport, XATA Corp. is rolling out a reefer management and monitoring option for its XataNet fleet management system. Announced at the International Food Distribution Assn. meeting in Minneapolis, the reefer option is the first of what the company says will be a comprehensive set of trailer-related management tools for its web-based fleet system.

XATA’s new reefer management solution can track temperature data as well as help fleets optimize reefer-unit fuel usage, according to the company. It uses a specialized, trailer-mounted computer that will collect and communicate data back to the XataNet web host.

Fleets can view the data online as a multi-color graph, as well as access a detailed report that provides specific temperatures at various points during the trailer’s travels, including temperature at delivery time.

“As refrigerated fleets continue to invest in technology to ensure refrigerated product gets to its destination on time, reefer optimization and temperature monitoring are critical,” said Tom Flies, senior vp, product management. “To help meet this need, this enhanced solution gives our customers even more visibility in to their fleets to ensure time sensitive customer needs are met.”