Someone looking for a refrigerated container meets three different pieces of equipment. An intermodal container is a body transferred between ship, rail and truck. A refrigerated body is vehicle bodywork, selected together with the vehicle and the refrigeration unit. A passive container such as GEBHARDT Isotec TBX keeps cargo temperature with insulation and prepared eutectic plates.
| Check | Intermodal container | Vehicle body | Passive container |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooling | Container unit | Unit matched to the vehicle | Prepared cold source |
| Energy | External supply at every stage | Vehicle or the unit's own engine | Depot freezer, re-preparation between trips |
| Internal space | Internal size, door, unit footprint | Internal size, door, air paths, load limit | Volume left after plates and packaging |
A container unit runs on external electricity; on the road, a generator set often supplies it (Thermo King's marine range lists separate generator sets beside its container units). So the supply is written into the transport plan for every stage: at loading, transfer, waiting and receipt, who connects, who monitors and what happens in an outage. The Thermo King MAGNUM PLUS brochure describes a container unit used on land and at sea, with control, monitoring and remote tracking options; which supply it accepts is read from its manual.
On a body, unit and shell are also separate questions. The Thermo King Precedent trailer-unit manual (pp. 125-129) covers loading and en-route checks: the setpoint and the return-air reading are checked every four hours on the road. Return air is the air the unit sees, so product temperature is measured separately.
A passive container has no compressor on the road, but preparation takes energy and time. GEBHARDT states up to 24 hours of cold-chain security with eutectic plates; the plates are frozen on dedicated freezing racks in the depot cooler, so freezer capacity, ready plate stock and preparation after return belong in the daily dispatch plan.
That third option has its own heading in the catalogue: thermal containers.
When assessing the passive option, prepare the cargo at its transport temperature and work out the container and plate arrangement against ambient conditions, waiting, total duration and lid openings. The Isotec TBX model information and the needs-analysis form collect those inputs; the GEBHARDT TBX document lists the models and internal dimensions.
In the offer, compare internal size, door aperture, space reserved for air and cold sources, cargo mass and handling equipment alongside the outside length. Who approves the setpoint at each stage, who checks the connection and who takes over the temperature record should be written into the service or contract.
