On one supermarket order, frozen, fresh and dry goods share the list but not the temperature: quick-frozen food must be at -18 °C or below at every point, and fresh fish must be kept close to the melting temperature of ice. In a classic single-compartment body there are two ways to reconcile them, and both cost something.
| Method | Cost |
|---|---|
| Two separate runs | Two vehicles to one address |
| Whole body at the coldest setting | Fuel to cool a large volume, freezing risk for fresh goods |
| One insulated container per regime | Managing containers and plates |
The container-level solution
Both treat the vehicle as the unit of temperature. In the GEBHARDT Isotec TBX the unit is the container: the fresh zone works at 0 to 2 °C and the deep-freeze zone at -21 to -25 °C. Eutectic plates come with melting points of -3, -14, -18 and -21 °C and are frozen at least 5 °C below their melting point. It can also be used in a dry truck, and when a door opens only that delivery's container is affected.
The limit is route duration and outside temperature. GEBHARDT gives up to 24 hours of cold chain depending on conditions and recommends 12 to 20 hours of pre-cooling. If a long route and high outside temperatures combine, send Aris Makina the route, product and target temperature and we choose the plates together.
