
Cold chain guide hub
How to run a cold chain without a refrigerated vehicle, how to choose a eutectic plate, which certificate is needed and when - everything we have written about Isotec, brought together here. A reference that explains the method before it sells a product.
Isotec is a family of insulated containers whose insulated walls and eutectic plates hold the warehouse cold across the whole trip. This hub brings together the articles, terms and common questions that explain how the system works and where it breaks. For product cards and quotes you can move to the brand page.
Isotec productsThe passive cold chain in three steps



How do you run a cold chain without a refrigerated vehicle?
In three steps: the container and the food are pre-cooled in the warehouse, eutectic plates are frozen and placed into the upper slide rails, and the insulated container protects that cold along the way. No electricity or compressor is needed; frozen and fresh food travel on the same vehicle in separate containers. GEBHARDT holds up to 24 hours of unbroken cold chain with this setup - the figure depends on the goods, fill level, pre-cooling and door openings.
- Volume
- 410-1500 l
- Payload
- 500-700 kg
- Temperature
- 0…+2 °C / -21…-25 °C
- Certification
- ATP · HACCP
Isotec technical pages
Verified data for the brand: sizes, plates, holding time and pre-cooling, selection, accessories and spare parts, comparison, documents and the Turkish side.

Volume, payload, external and internal size of all nine models in one table.
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Four melting points, three body sizes and which combinations actually exist.
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How to read the 24-hour statement alongside preparation, load regime and route inputs.
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Product, route, vehicle and preparation checks before quoting, with the needs form.
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Which part fits which size, part numbers, repair and warranty.
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Four routes to the same goal, on identical operating criteria.
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What is certified, where equipment and carrier documents differ, and the evidence side.
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Who supplies it, what a quote is based on and which support is local.
Open the pageWhat we have written on the cold chain
1840 articlesThe articles below are method and field notes; the brand's technical data lives on the technical pages above.

The time left after the unit stops is measured by the WHO Supplement 11 failure test: set point, roughly 12 hours of stabilisation and the single time that goes into the report.
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Evidence the load-equipment match, maintenance history and trip records separately.
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The K coefficient on an ATP certificate is a laboratory result measured over 2-3 days in a closed tunnel, not a thickness claim. It uses a 25-degree difference, 24 sensors and strict stability conditions.
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The first ATP certificate runs six years from manufacture, then periodic inspections add three years each, up to 15 in all. At year fifteen the class drops or certification ends.
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The +3 °C for mince appears in the ATP roadside inspection guide table, while the text of the ATP agreement itself and the animal hygiene regulation both say 2 °C. Shipments work to 2 °C.
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Carrier authority, equipment certificate, vehicle hygiene, product temperature and temperature records come from five different texts. Where each answer lives, with the key figures, in one table.
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The word control covers three jobs at once: holding the condition, measuring it and recording it. Running a cooler is only one of the three.
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The rule is one sentence: the product stays within its own condition without interruption, and a record proves it. The condition changes by product: -18 °C, 2 °C, +2 to +8 °C.
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Chilled food, frozen food, fresh produce and cold-chain medicines. Each group's condition is written on its label, in its regulation or in its authorisation: -18 °C for quick-frozen food, 2 °C for minced meat, +2 to +8 °C for medicines.
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In a passive cold chain the cold is not made on the road: plates are frozen at the depot, the container is pre-cooled, and no unit runs on the vehicle. ATP classes, plate freezing temperatures and a worked example of heat entry into the container follow below.
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A reefer is an electrically powered piece of sea-freight equipment: with a socket or a generator it cools the air, without one it is just an insulated box. It was not designed for city distribution.
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Plan stop order, carton access and a loading sketch together; track wrong-carton searches on the next run using the same measure.
Read the article →Cold chain glossary
- Cold chain
- Keeping food and pharma under unbroken temperature control from production to delivery. If the vehicle, the box or any handover point fails, the chain is broken; all of them have to hold together.
- Eutectic plate
- A cooling plate whose special liquid freezes at a set temperature: pre-frozen, it melts at that constant temperature during transport, absorbing heat - the 'battery' of an insulated box.
- Insulated (isothermal) box
- A transport box whose insulation minimises heat exchange and so holds the inside temperature. Combined with eutectic plates it enables cold-chain transport even in vehicles without refrigeration.
- ATP
- The UN Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for such Carriage, ATP for short. ATP-certified equipment has been tested to hold the specified temperature classes.
- HACCP
- A site-specific management system for identifying, evaluating and controlling food-safety hazards. Cleanable equipment can support a HACCP plan; the phrase 'HACCP-compliant equipment' alone is not a hygienic-design certificate or proof of suitability for a particular use.
- Returnable packaging
- Transport packaging that replaces single-use boxes and circulates between producer and customer. It pays for itself in shipment cycles; models like the plug-in box return flat when empty and reassemble in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Which goods and temperature ranges is Isotec suitable for?
Isotec works across almost all temperature regimes: fresh produce, deep-frozen goods, butchery and meat processing, bakery, fish markets and food service; it can also run on dry ice. Temperature-sensitive medical products can be carried too. The right model and plate regime follow from the goods you carry.
Which crate sizes fit inside Isotec?
Standard euro-norm crates (E1, E2, E3) fit every TBX size. On the newer generation the inner-tray dimensions are optimised to the crate sizes in use.
Can Isotec be made in a custom colour and with a logo?
The standard colour is blue. Custom colours are available and your logo can be printed on the container to match your corporate identity.
What equipment can be fitted inside the container?
Eutectic-plate rails (up to 6 plates), a plate shelf, a load shelf, a dry-ice tray shelf and a grooved tray can be fitted inside the container. We list the full set of accessories, with photos and part numbers, on the brand page.
Can temperature and lid openings be monitored?
Yes. GEBHARDT points to the 4smartlogistics solution for this: it records how many times the lid was opened and documents the temperature profile along the route, so a broken cold chain can be proven after the fact.
How many eutectic plates are needed?
There is no ready table: each application needs a separate thermal analysis. The number of plates depends on the goods, route time, fill level and pre-cooling. We do not quote an off-hand figure: together with GEBHARDT's engineers in Germany, Aris Makina carries out the required thermal analyses and gives you the result.
How are Isotec containers cleaned?
It is cleaned by hand, with a high-pressure washer or in an automatic wash bay. The cleaner recommended by GEBHARDT is Calvatis CF315: it removes residue, does not corrode the tray and does not spoil the look over repeated washes. By design, no water reaches the insulation layer.
How long is the warranty, and is there service and spare-parts support in Türkiye?
GEBHARDT gives 24 months' warranty from the purchase date; many elements on the welded and bolted joints can be replaced, so the container is a repairable product. For repairs GEBHARDT works with SAL GmbH, which specialises in thermal-container repair. Service and spare-parts support inside Türkiye runs through us; when a need arises we plan the solution together with you.
Which certificates does Isotec hold? What do ATP and HACCP mean?
On its Isotec TBX product page, GEBHARDT describes the container as 'ATP and HACCP certified' for food-logistics transport and says that an external test institute regularly assesses the container and production processes. This manufacturer statement does not replace the operator's site-specific HACCP plan. Before purchase or tender, request the current certificate copy, scope, number and validity from Aris Makina - we obtain it from GEBHARDT and pass it on.
Are an ice pack and a eutectic plate the same thing?
Two sizes of the same logic. The small sizes the market knows as ice packs; the industrial-size version is technically called a eutectic plate. In GEBHARDT plates the shell is food-safe polyethylene and the filling non-toxic brine; they come in -3, -14, -18 and -21 °C melting points and are used again and again.
How long does a eutectic plate take to freeze?
Depending on the cooling technique, 8-24 hours; in practice a range of 15-21 hours is given. Example: a -21 °C plate freezes in about 19 hours in a -26 °C freezer. The freezer must be at least 5 °C below the plate's melting point, and an air gap must be left between plates - that is what the freezing rack is for.
Where to go from here
Filter verified TBX dimensions, prepare a route brief and compare TCO using your own cost inputs.
TBX, TBX Seafood, eutectic plates and accessories - product cards, the size table and quotes.
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