The comparison has to start with an accurate description of what each arrangement does. A refrigerated vehicle cools the air in the body and keeps producing that cold, drawing its energy from the vehicle engine or from its own diesel. An insulated container stores the cold in advance: eutectic plates are frozen at the depot, the box is closed, and the round runs on the cold held inside.
Where the reefer is strong
Long distance and full loads. Once the body is down to temperature and the door stays shut, the system works efficiently; one regime stays steady across a large volume for hours. Intercity lines, plant-to-warehouse shipments, full loads to a single point - here the reefer is unquestionably strong, and trying to argue otherwise is a waste of time.
The Turkish Ministry of Education's training module also describes how the system is built: on bodies up to 5 metres the compressor is belt-driven from the vehicle engine, while bodies between 5 and 13.60 metres run the unit's own diesel engine. The cooling, in other words, is a system tied to the vehicle running.
Where the reefer weakens
The same module states the weakness just as plainly: when the door opens, cold air flows out along the floor and warm humid air takes its place, while the evaporator fan, still running with the door open, blows chilled air outside. For a round that opens the door twenty times a day, that is a systematic loss.
The second weakness is scale: the cooling works for the whole body. Two pallets cost the same unit hours and the same fuel as a full load. The third is the calendar: the vehicle books cost for twelve months while the season lasts three. The fourth is resilience: when the cooling fails, the round stops.
Where the closed container is strong
Multi-drop rounds, partial loads, more than one regime on a route, and seasonal capacity. Because the cold sits inside the box, only the box being delivered is opened and the rest are untouched. The vehicle stays standard, the remaining space goes to dry goods, and out of season the boxes go onto a rack.
The limit of the closed container
A container does not run forever. The ceiling GEBHARDT gives for eutectic plates or dry ice is 24 hours; route length, how often the box is opened and the outside temperature all shorten that. The plates have to be refrozen for the next round, with a recommended pre-cooling time of 12-20 hours. Those two facts mean the container arrangement demands discipline at the depot: without planned freezing-rack capacity and a plate cycle, the system does not work.
Who wins on which trip profile
| Trip profile | Winning arrangement | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Intercity line, full load, 1-2 drops | Refrigerated vehicle | The door rarely opens, one regime across a large volume |
| Urban round, 10-30 drops | Insulated container | A door opening affects one box, not the whole body |
| Partial load, 1-3 pallets chilled | Insulated container | Only the loaded box is cooled, the rest stays free for dry goods |
| Dry, chilled and frozen on one route | Insulated container | The regime belongs to the box; no compartmented body needed |
| A business with a 3-4 month season | Insulated container | No fixed cost outside the season |
| Continuous carriage beyond 24 hours | Refrigerated vehicle | This is where the container limit bites |
| Urban distribution with electric vehicles | Insulated container | The box draws no energy from the vehicle, so range is untouched |
Which one do the rules require
Neither. Türkiye's Food Hygiene Regulation requires that the vehicles and/or containers used to carry food hold the appropriate temperature where necessary and allow it to be monitored. For quick-frozen food, ambient temperature during carriage must additionally be recorded with date and time and the records kept. The choice is a technical and economic decision; the documentary duty is identical either way.
Building your own decision
With these four numbers in hand the decision makes itself: longest trip duration, drops per round, cold volume per trip, and months worked per year. Send them to Aris Makina and we will put both arrangements against the same trip and see which one wins for your business. Whichever side the decision falls on, it comes with the numbers behind it.
