The vehicle is the first investment that comes to mind when starting meal delivery. But the bottleneck shows in how many addresses one vehicle reaches at the right temperature in a day. To see it, record a busy day: each route's departure and return times, stops, portions and unused space in the vehicle; for containers, when they come back empty after delivery and when they are ready again.
The holding limit for food
WHO's Five keys to safer food sets two limits: cooked food is kept above 60 °C before serving, and not left at room temperature for more than 2 hours. The record shows whether a round stays within these two limits.
| Measure | Limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked food before serving | Above 60 °C | WHO, five keys |
| Food left at room temperature | Up to 2 hours | WHO, five keys |
| Pre-cooling of a TBX container (chilled goods) | 12-20 hours, to the temperature of the food it carries | GEBHARDT TBX product flyer |
| Cold chain with plates | Up to 24 hours | GEBHARDT TBX whitepaper |
Driving time depends on traffic and is hard to shorten. Holding time depends on the transport setup, and that is the side you can act on. With open vats the door opens at every stop and the temperature falls; in a closed insulated container an opening affects only that container.
Container count: the pre-cooling calculation
For containers carrying chilled goods, pre-cooling time directly sets the container count. Example (figures to be replaced with your own record): three chilled rounds are run in a day, and each round uses one set of containers. TBX pre-cooling is 12-20 hours. If the working day is shorter than 12 hours, one set cannot be loaded twice in the same day, so three rounds need at least three sets. This follows from the pre-cooling time; measure the same time on your own containers.
Do not put the whole budget into the vehicle. The share set aside for containers lets the same vehicle reach more addresses. A second vehicle comes up when the first is full, and the number of containers decides how full it gets.
Four figures for the decision
| Figure | Where it comes from | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Stops per day | Route record of a busy day | Number of rounds needed in the day |
| Average time between stops | Route record | Length of a round |
| Time to the farthest stop | Route record | Whether the holding limit is exceeded |
| Containers ready and return time | Container record | Whether a second round in the day is possible |
When the four figures are side by side, it is visible whether the constraint sits in the vehicle or in the containers. With vehicle space free but containers short, add containers; with containers ready but loading space full, get a vehicle quote.
Volume and load: GEBHARDT TBX
| Model | Volume (L) | Payload (kg) | Internal dimensions (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBX 410 | 410 | 500 | 431 x 625 x 1425 |
| TBX 725 | 725 | 500 | 604 x 809 x 1407 |
| TBX 900 | 900 | 700 | 611 x 1025 x 1444 |
| TBX 1500 | 1500 | 700 | 830 x 1045 x 1676 |
GEBHARDT keeps the cold chain with plates for up to 24 hours; the duration in a given run is measured from the route record, since ambient temperature and load change it. Plate sizes: 390 x 295 x 34 mm (-3 and -21 °C), 480 x 280 x 34 mm (-3, -14, -18 and -21 °C), 615 x 378 x 34 mm (-3 and -21 °C). Each rail takes at most 6 plates.
For a small volume, the GEBHARDT Thermobox EPP is a lidded box: internal dimensions 538 × 338 × 257 mm, capacity 46 litres, rated from -30 °C to +80 °C, a range that also covers hot-meal rounds. On a chilled round, adding the eutectic plate shelf lengthens the transport time.