DENVER, Col. — A US specialty food company says it is saving about $85,000 a year in fuel costs by using shorepower to run reefer units at its distribution centre.

Mile Hi Foods, based on Denver, Col., delivers food to 300 national brand restaurants. In 2007, it began spec’ing Carrier Transicold’s Vector multi-temperature trailer refrigeration units, which can be powered by electricity where a power source is available. The company now runs 27 Vector TRUs and over the past year has installed 17 460volt electrical outlets at its loading docks as well as 20 freestanding receptacles in its yard, so parked trailers can maintain their temperatures without running the TRU engine.

The fuel savings, according to Carrier Transicold, amount to US$85,000 a year. The company says when in electric standby mode, the TRU provides operating savings of 40-70%, depending on the price of fuel and electricity at that time.

“The driving factor (for converting to hybrid TRUs) was when fuel got up to $4 a gallon,” said Tony Taddonio, president of Mile Hi Foods. “It made us rethink a lot of what we were doing. As we considered how we could save energy, we saw the sustainability benefits, too. This was perfect. It fit everything we wanted to do.”

The overall savings from using electric standby amount to about 1,800 gallons of diesel a month, Taddonio estimated. He said the savings should pay for the infrastructure investment in one year.