The roads of this country are teeming with delivery vehicles rushing produce from fields, farms and greenhouses to shops, and what makes this a viable proposition is refrigeration. It could be argued that the British climate helps in this respect, because it gives us a bit of leeway, a bit of time to get fresh and chilled goods to their destination without them spoiling, rather than trying to do that in a hot country where vegetables are wilting as soon as they leave the soil and meat can start to rot in transit. But that is not our problem.
How Refrigeration Maintain British standards
Standards in the UK are generally higher than in many places where t-shirts and shorts are the order of the day every day. Produce grown in an idyllic location on a Caribbean island and slung in the back of a pickup truck before being sold at the roadside is going to be dehydrated and lifeless before you can say “freshly picked this morning”.
Add to that the fact that more and more we are ordering online and having things delivered, and it is clear that fridge van hire is essential to keep the wheels of commerce turning.
Nutrition and Health
Nutritionists say that produce frozen immediately after being picked retain more of its natural goodness than if it were left on the shelves of a shop for even a day or two. In that respect refrigeration has a vital role to play in the health of the nation.
The whole issue of delivery from far away rather than going to the local shops is a complex one and advances in fuel economy – and the rise of electric vehicles – are having a mitigating effect on the situation, but anyway, that is only part of the argument. The fact is that delivery is more popular than ever and any business that relies on it has to make sure it is doing it as efficiently as possible.
Oiling the Wheels of the Refrigeration Industry
There is more to this than a cooling unit and a bit of insulation, although those things have improved dramatically in recent years. There is also the overall quality of the vehicle. Some of the more prestigious marques associated with high-end cars have established a foothold in the goods-delivery market now, and what they bring to the table is not just the efficiency of the refrigeration but the reliability of the vehicle as a whole.
Why Prestige Motor Manufacturers are Doing Refrigeration
Just because a commercial vehicle does the grunt work rather than the glamorous stuff, that doesn’t mean you should accept lower standards of manufacture and design. The ranks of the vehicle hire companies now feature some surprising names, while buses, coaches and trucks we see on the motorways often come from impressive manufacturers. Mercedes Benz and Volvo are competing with the more expected people such as Iveco and DAF. It is a sign of the importance of delivery vehicles – and a bus delivers people – that some of the fancy names are getting involved.
The automotive industry as a whole is changing and developments in one branch of it can have a beneficial effect on others, so that what the F1 designers are doing this year could show up in delivery trucks a little further down the road. We may be a few years away from quiet, zero-emission vehicles across the board, but even in the heavy truck world electric power is not unheard-of now. And who knows? That might not be the ultimate answer, just the best we can do at the moment.
