CHEREAU SAS has started what it calls the silent revolution in refrigerated delivery, reducing the noise and fumes associated with diesel-powered mechanical refrigeration systems, particularly in environmentally conscious cities in Scandinavia.
The silent refrigeration system chosen for the project is a new generation liquid carbon dioxide refrigerant. Chereau showed the new system at the 61st IAA commercial vehicle show held in Hanover, Germany. It differs from early cryogenic units in that the cold gas does not vent inside the truck body, where it could pose a safety hazard to delivery workers. The exhausted gas vents to the atmosphere only.
In operation, the Thermo King full cryogenic system moves liquid CO2 from the refillable on-board tank through a sealed evaporator inside the cargo space, thus cooling the coil. Temperature-controlled air is circulated over the coil and through the cargo space. After all the energy is extracted from the cold gas, the CO2 vapor is exhausted to the atmosphere. Heat for defrosting of the evaporator coil is generated by the vehicle engine or, for standby operation, from electric heaters.
Chereau's exhibit at the IAA in Hanover included a 9.6-meter (32-ft) insulated body equipped with a Thermo King ST-CR multi-temperature cryogenic unit. The main evaporator was ceiling mounted just inside the forward side door. The remote evaporator was ceiling mounted inside the rear doors. The two side doors are placed as far forward and rearward, respectively, as possible, providing as much flexibility as possible for the sliding bulkhead dividing the two compartments. The cryogenic tank is the standard 330-liter (87-gallon) tank holding 374 kg (825 lb) of liquid CO2.
The first 100 units will be delivered to Sweden, where 10 cryogenic filling stations are set up, according to Rudi Jehle, cryogenic project leader with Thermo King. Another 50 units are destined for Helsinki and Finland. Other experimental projects are underway in Norway and Denmark.
Chereau SAS, 52 Bd du Luxembourg, F-50300 Avranches, France.
Thermo King Corp, Monivea Road, Mervue, Galway, Ireland.
Lamberet displays larger, lighter reefer
Trailer engineers in Europe have to fight for every millimeter of space. A case in point is Lamberet's redesign of its refrigerated semitrailer. The problem was to fit 33 pallets in a two-temperature, insulated van that normally has room for only 32 pallets. That 9% gain in productivity was achieved by moving the insulated doors back flush with the trailer rear. The net gain was 40 mm (1.57") of interior length, to a total length of 13390 mm (43' 11").
The flat rear face meant the door lockrods had to be inside the door insulation, and the operating handles had to be recessed in the rear face. Swinging each door on four double-point plate hinges allows the door to swing all the way to the sidewall, thus reducing damage potential. The smooth, flat rear face of the trailer means customers have the optimum advertising space.
To protect the flat rear face requires additional dock bumpers. The primary protection comes from elastomeric bumpers encased in stainless steel so that they slide easily up and down the face of the dock as fork trucks go in and out in the loading process. Other massive buffers protect the lower rear and subframe. An integral bumper protects the rear threshold across its entire width. The door posts also are equipped with vertical rubber bumpers 600 mm (24") high. These bumpers are hidden when the doors are closed, but appear when the doors are opened, thus continuing the clean, aesthetic appearance.
The completely redesigned semitrailer, known as the SR2 Futura, is now 600 kg (1,320 lb) lighter. Lamberet says it is the lightest refrigerated semitrailer on the market, thanks to its composite floor structure. Even the sidewalls were reengineered with more reinforcement on the interior side. The composite panels have polyester skins over a core of expanded polyurethane block. Tare weight without the refrigerating unit is 6,800 kg (15,000 lb).
Lamberet manufactures a complete range of refrigerated vehicles ranging from the smallest van with one cubic meter of cargo space to the largest trailer with 100 cubic meters (3,530 cubic feet) of cargo space. It has four manufacturing plants, two located in France, and one each in Germany and Vietnam. Assembly and sales-service locations are also in England, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain.
Lamberet sold 7,780 vehicles in the year 2005, including 2,580 semitrailers. Its annual sales total about 200 million euros ($260 million). In Europe it has a staff of some 1,200 and a sales and service network of over 140 coach builders, dealers and distributors.
Lamberet Constructions Isothermes, BP 43, F-01380 St-Cyr-Sur Menthon, France.
Cold Curtain Closes Automatically
It's hard to leave the Thermostar cold curtain open. When the time is up on the driver-set timer, the roll curtain drops automatically. The roller curtain runs in a track at both sides of the vehicle, so it seals tightly on both sides as well as the top and bottom.
The curtain is opened manually by the driver lifting a lever. The curtain stops wherever the driver releases the lever because a battery-operated electromagnet applies a braking action. The number of seconds for the curtain to remain open is set manually on the battery-operated timer. At the expiration of the time, the roll-curtain drops quickly. (The name Schnelllauf-rolltor translates “fast-running roll door.)
TBV GmbH, Im Lossenfeld 13, D-77731 Willstätt-Sand, Germany
Rohr Jumboliner grosses 132,000 lb
Rohr designed its own version of the two-trailer EuroCombi. The Rohr Jumboliner has a gross combination weight rating of 60 tonnes (132,000 lb) on seven axles. Payload is 35.35 tonnes (77,950 lb). Overall length of the combination is 25 meters (82 feet).
What is most significant from an operational standpoint is the Jumboliner's straight-through loading. Both the three-axle lead trailer and the center-axle second trailer are fitted with tailgate lifts, and the second trailer has roller shutter doors front and rear. This permits loading operations to move easily through both trailers as if they were one unit. With single-deck loading, the Jumboliner has floor space for 51 Europallets (compared to the single semitrailer space for 33 pallets) or for 84 roll containers.
The three-axle lead trailer is refrigerated with a Carrier Vector 1800 unit, and the two-axle second trailer has a Mitsubishi TU73. A rear video camera is mounted for safety.
Nutzfahrzeuge Rohr GmbH, Ittlinger Strasse 157, D-94315 Straubing, Germany.
