3663 chooses Thermo King direct drive september 2003

3663 First for Foodservice, the UK’s leading foodservice wholesale distributor, has chosen Thermo King direct drive refrigeration units for its temperature controlled fleet, with an order for 15 direct drive V-500 MAX units from Thermo King Northern.

This order follows a recent order for six of Thermo King’s recently launched A-1050 alternator driven units - the first to go on the road in the UK.

The V-500 MAX units are fitted to Mercedes Sprinters and will carry frozen and chilled goods on 3663’s emergency delivery operation. 3663 was using Transit vans for this type of delivery, where emergency supplies of goods could be delivered to customers’ premises at a moment’s notice.

For example, when a fast food restaurant runs out of burgers 3663 uses a ‘service recovery vehicle’ to get more supplies to them in a short space of time.
Graham Rennie, fleet controller at 3663, commented: “We realised the Transit ‘service recovery vehicles’ were not big enough for that particular operation, so we decided to opt for the larger Mercedes Sprinter.”

Graham continued: “We prefer direct drive over traditional diesel refrigeration units, as they are more environmentally friendly, and quieter - an important factor as most of our deliveries are in urban areas.”

Launched last year as part of Thermo King’s direct drive range, the V-500 series features Thermo King’s exclusive TCC (Triple Cooling Capacity) system, which offers optimised performance, with three condenser fan speed levels that are automatically matched to the requirements - resulting in maximum efficiency, reduced fuel consumption and minimal noise levels. The V-500 MAX is ideal for trucks from 3 - 6.5 metres long.

Thermo King has a comprehensive range of direct drive refrigeration options, for vehicle sizes from small vans up to 7.5 metres with the V-700, or with the A-1050 for vehicles longer than nine metres. Because the refrigeration unit is powered directly by the vehicle’s engine, there are no additional emissions to the atmosphere and the noise level is dramatically reduced compared to a diesel powered engine. Under steady state conditions, there is virtually no nosie produced.

Earlier this year 3663 was the first in the UK to take delivery of Thermo King’s new alternator driven A-1050. The units are fitted to DAF 55 14 tonne trucks and are being used in 3663’s frozen and chilled nationwide delivery operation.

The A-1050, launched at the latter end of last year, was Thermo King’s new approach to alternator driven refrigeration for medium to large sized trucks. One of the main drawbacks to alternator driven refrigeration is the potentially variable output of the fridge, depending on the changes in the vehicle’s engine speed - a particular problem in urban deliveries.

Thermo King overcame the difficulty with the A-1050s unique “frequency inverter technology” which enables the alternator driven unit to provide high refrigeration capacity effectively independent of the engine speed, unlike conventional alternator driven units. The result is fast pull-down and recovery, and efficient, consistent temperature control.