SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Nov. 29, 2004) — Mechanical refrigeration units are among the modern marvels that give us a high standard of living. A huge variety of food, household and commercial products are transported to us even though they must be chilled, frozen, heated or kept at some specified temperature en route.

But reefer units have diesels that produce exhaust emissions and now they’ve been eye-balled by clean air authorities. As TodaysTrucking.com reports in today’s top story, a California Air Resources Board (CARB) order regulating transport refrigeration unit (TRU) diesel engines has been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and will become operative December 10, 2004.

The regulations require, among other things, reefer engines to comply with a new stringent in-use emission performance standard categories, as well as promote a Verified Diesel Emission Control Strategy that includes meeting alternative fuel and technology options.

Reefer manufacturers are getting more inquiries from truckers operating on the West Coast about standby electric units, which operate on 220- or 370/440-volt power. Equipment includes a large motor that runs the compressor so the diesel engine can be shut off. This switches the origin of pollution from the truck to a power plant somewhere, but authorities can more easily watch its stacks than the tail pipes of thousands of trucks.

The switchover from diesel to standby electric power is automatic. When the stand-by cord is plugged in, the reefer’s microprocessor controls automatically shut off the diesel and its centrifugal clutch disengages, allowing the motor to run the compressor through a belt drive. Unplugging the standby reverses the switchover.

However, fleet managers complain that standby equipment is too heavy and too expensive. Depending on whether it’s in a truck or trailer reefer, the hefty motor and associated gear adds about 50 to 200 pounds and 10 to 12 per cent in cost to a mechanical reefer. Although the threat of citations can now make standby an economical proposition.

Electric standby equipment is not new. One manufacturer’s engineer said it goes on 99 per cent of reefers sold in Western Europe. Also, many trucks use ferries to cross the English Channel, Baltic Sea and other bodies of water. While aboard, truckers must shut down all engines, including those on reefers, so plug-ins are provided at the DCs and on ferry parking decks.

Will plug-ins proliferate in North America? That depends almost solely on laws and regulations regarding emissions and perhaps noise. Many such laws that prohibit the idling of truck engines doing no work are already in force across some U.S. states and fines are hefty — $200 or more for first offenses in New Jersey, for example.

New Jersey authorities are aware that truckers at rest need to be comfortable, and are encouraging electrification projects at truckstops. Next, they intend to look at large port terminals where plug-ins might allow truckers to cool their cabs and sleepers with shore power rather than by idling their engines.

The same factors may affect electrification of distribution centers, shipping and receiving docks, and maybe even consignees’ parking lots, as lawmakers begin to reason that if truckers can plug in their trucks, why not their reefers?

— from Heavy Duty Trucking, with files from Today’s Trucking