MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Carrier Transicold has secured a breakthrough order from Ginsters to supply 34 Xarios® 350 temperature controlled systems for its new fleet of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter light commercials. Prior to this order, Ginsters had not been a Carrier customer. Carrier Transicold is part of Carrier Corp., a business unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
The Xarios direct drive refrigeration units are mounted to bodywork manufactured by Solomons on Sprinter chassis and will be used to transport Ginsters’ pastries, sandwiches and pies to petrol stations, bakers, student unions, cafés, supermarkets and corner shops. The refrigeration units and bodywork are expected to remain on the fleet for six years. They will be re-mounted onto new chassis when the current vehicles are replaced in three years’ time.
Prior to placing the order, Ginsters tested two Xarios 350 units within its fleet to allow them to monitor fuel consumption, reliability and performance against its existing competitive models.
Commenting on its decision to switch to Carrier Transicold units, Dave Vaughan, fleet operations manager at Cornwall-based Ginsters, said: "The initial decision to trial the Xarios 350 unit was based purely on aesthetics as we felt its sleek dimensions would look better on our vehicles. The evaporator also proved less bulky, and the unit performed well throughout the trial.
"Another area where the Carrier system really stood out was its ability to pull-down to the set point faster than any of our existing units. This has a positive impact on fuel consumption as once the correct temperature has been attained, the compressors do not put any excess strain on the engine."
The Xarios 350 unit is one of Carrier Transicold’s best-selling direct drive systems and is designed for the transportation of fresh or frozen goods in medium-sized delivery vehicles with a load volume of up to 32 cubic metres. It offers excellent temperature recovery, making it ideally suited to multi-drop deliveries, and its sleek evaporator allows goods to be loaded to within 200 millimetres of the roof.
The 34 new vehicles in Ginster’s fleet are based upon 3.5 tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, with the final 14 units featuring the latest Euro 5 engine technology. Each of the Sprinters will cover approximately 180 miles a day, seven days a week, with approximately 40 deliveries spread across an 11 hour period. Overnight, the Xarios 350 units are set to standby mode, ready for the next morning’s deliveries to commence.
