Thermal container wheel fault

A wheel is not part of the insulation, but a seized container lengthens handling time, and that time comes out of the cold budget.

11 July 2026Updated 28 September 2026

Short answer

A wheel fault does not change the temperature directly; its effect comes through time. A seized or poorly tracking container waits longer at the dock and the store entrance, and that wait comes out of the limited cold budget of a passive container. Check wheels, brakes and attachments before dispatch and do not load a faulty unit.

A wheel is not part of the insulation, but a container that seizes or tracks badly takes longer to push across the dock, the store entrance or the last few metres. The cold in a passive container is limited (up to 24 hours for the GEBHARDT Isotec TBX), so every extra minute comes out of that budget.

A hard-to-move container also pushes staff towards a detour, an extra transfer or leaving the door open; that is how a mechanical fault becomes a temperature event. Before dispatch, check wheel rotation, steering, brakes and attachments, and set a faulty unit aside before loading.

If a fault happens, write down the start and finish of the move, the obstacle, the wait and any transfer, and match them to the temperature record hour by hour. If the delay repeats at one point, inspect the floor and the passage as well as the wheel.