Fleet and refrigeration units4 / 7

Compare local service coverage, parts confirmation and response terms in writing. Your fleet's failure records show what matters most.

A change in run time or performance does not diagnose a leak. Record the condition safely and leave leak testing to qualified service personnel.

Do not assume a unit can heat on a winter route. Check its manual, the cargo temperature range, sensor position and low alarm threshold before dispatch.

Passive transport does not suit every route. Compare product conditions, route profiles and costs in a matched pilot.

Do not treat unit hours as a life estimate. Review the meter with operating mode, service records and test results gathered under comparable conditions.

Record old and new settings, time, reason and approval together. Define driver actions under product and equipment procedures.

A unit running with the door open pulls warm outside air in and wastes fuel.

Fuel-card consumption alone does not show refrigeration-unit run time. Match vehicle, route, load and meter records separately.

A refrigeration unit runs independently of the vehicle: the hours tick while it stands still. A fleet that ties service to kilometres alone defers it on urban vehicles.

Age alone is not a performance measure. Keep temperature records and match unit, body, load, ambient and operating-mode data to separate condition changes.

A unit does not make cold; it carries heat out of the body. Its power is measured in heat moved per hour, not in degrees, and that figure falls as the target temperature drops.

Do not decide from energy price alone. Compare route duty, runtime, charging access and six months of actual bills.

Do not assume the effect of delayed service. Match six months of service, runtime, fuel and trip records for each vehicle.

Defrost clears frost from the evaporator with hot gas and shows in the record as a rise in air temperature. How much the load warmed is shown by the reading next to the product, not by the air curve.

Why unit fuel per kilometre varies so much from route to route, how to work out fuel from unit hours, and which records that takes.

Check an ATP certificate on three points: the vehicle's identity, its class and the month and year it is valid until. Validity runs 6 years from manufacture and a passed inspection adds 3.