The ATP text divides equipment into five kinds; one of them has no mechanical unit and draws its cold from a stored source. It is refrigerated equipment, abbreviated R. In the Annex 1 definition eutectic plates are named among the sources alongside natural ice and dry ice; the plate is not an exception at the margin of the agreement but part of its main text.
| Class | Highest temperature held in the empty body |
|---|---|
| A | +7 °C |
| B | -10 °C |
| C | -20 °C |
| D | 0 °C |
These values are defined at a mean outside temperature of +30 °C and for an empty body; the ATP text also requires the cold-source compartment to hold the class temperature for at least 12 hours without renewal. This condition leaves out door openings, the temperature the load arrives at and the packaging, so it is a statement of capacity, not a trip guarantee.
Reading the class table together with ice cream carriage temperature settles which regime is held by which equipment.
The first letter of the marking code gives the equipment type (R), the second the insulation (N normal, R reinforced), the third the class: RNA is normally insulated class A, RRC reinforced class C refrigerated equipment. In an offer, match the equipment type, body description and serial number on the certificate to the physical equipment; an insulated box using eutectic plates is not automatically class R.
The Ministry guide notes that this kind of equipment is found most often on ice cream vehicles. Article 13 of the Ice Cream Communiqué (2022/13) requires temperature during carriage, storage and offer of at most -18 °C, with a short-term rise of at most 3 °C; product temperature comes from that communiqué, not from the class.
