REFRIGERATOR VAN RENTAL

At Gulf Cold Transport Service in Dubai, you can find different types of isothermal and insulated, or fully refrigerated, vans of various sizes and types.

The vehicles available for hire can be small, medium and large for the transport of perishable goods and food. Furthermore, all rental solutions are customized and tailored to your needs. Do not hesitate to write to the offices via the contact form to receive free information and quotes.

What is an isothermal van?

Isothermal vans represent those vehicles equipped with an isothermal cell, i.e., thermally insulated, installed on top of a frame.

The insulated vans, on the other hand, are slightly different, instead equipped with internal insulation in the passenger compartment and luggage compartment, and not with a special cell. Even in this case, the heat exchange between inside and outside is however limited.

If equipped with a refrigeration unit, however, both vehicles can act as a real refrigerated truck.

The cold chain

Refrigerated vehicles are used to transport goods (or drugs, for example) for which it is essential to maintain the cold chain. These products must therefore be stored and handled under controlled temperature conditions. Based on their nature, the most suitable vehicle will be chosen from 4 classes:

·         IN - Isothermal Normal: without refrigeration unit

·         IR - Isothermal Reinforced: without refrigeration unit

·         FNAX - Class A Normal Refrigerator: with refrigeration unit

·         FRCX - Class C Reinforced Refrigerator: with a refrigeration unit.

The transport of refrigerated products at controlled temperatures follows the rules of the ATP, acronym for Accord Transport Perissable, which establishes the criteria and the technical characteristics that are essential for a vehicle to transport this type of product.

Refrigerated transport vehicles must meet specific technical requirements. The sector is regulated by the ATP legislation which establishes the specifications of the vehicles as well as the methods of transport

 

The transport of perishable products that must be handled, stored, and handled under controlled temperature conditions, such as the typical case of edible food and beverages must be carried out using suitable means of transport according to well-defined conditions and methods, including others, by international standards.

Therefore, refrigerated transport at controlled temperatures is regulated by the ATP regulation, the acronym for Accord Transport Perissable, which establishes the criteria for the international transport of perishable products as well as the technical characteristics that the vehicles used for this purpose must possess.

The ATP certificate

The provincial offices of the MCTC General Management issue the “Bodywork certification for the transport of perishable foodstuffs” which contains all the necessary information. With regard to the vehicle (the type of which must be indicated if the truck, trailer, semi-trailer, etc. also for tank vehicles intended for the transport of food liquids the specification "tank" must be added), the manufacturer and type with identification number of the chassis and plate number, the classification of the bodywork and the type of thermal device (autonomous, non-autonomous, removable, non-removable) as well as the method of issuing the certificate (visit and test in a single copy, conformity to type-approved, periodic renewal).

ATP approved multi-compartment-multi-temperature isothermal vehicles

The constructive evolution of isothermal outfittings and the increasing versatility requirements of the means of transport have led to the creation of multi-compartment vehicles which must, however, comply with the technical procedures and ATP requirements. An outfitting is considered multi-compartment when it is type-approved with two separate internal cells and in the approval test documentation “multi-compartment vehicle” and the number of compartments, which can be a maximum of three, must be expressly indicated. The multi-compartment isothermal box must have two / three plates to be applied on the compartments for their identification.

Temperature recorders and transport temperatures

The means of transporting frozen foods (i.e. Class C vehicles for temperatures of -20 ° C) must also be equipped with approved automatic temperature recording instruments, for which a periodic review every two years is required. These instruments, whose probe must measure the air temperature of the load compartment and not that of the products, must carry out the measurement at regular time intervals not exceeding 20 minutes regardless of the duration of transport with a tolerance not exceeding the limit of +3 ° C for frozen and deep-frozen products. Vehicles, with a total mass not exceeding 7 t, used for the local distribution of frozen foods, ie transport that is carried out from a warehouse to a point of sale or to the final consumer, are excluded from this duty.

The standards also establish the controlled temperature conditions that must exist during the transport of both fresh and frozen and deep-frozen products. Temperature records must be dated and kept by the operator for at least one year. Furthermore, these records and the collection of other operational data also ensure compliance with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) procedures during transport for the control of critical points in the food production and distribution chain.

refrigeration devices: refrigeration units and eutectic plates

The refrigeration of the load compartment is obtained using refrigeration units or eutectic plates. The refrigeration units can be "non-autonomous" in which the compressor is driven directly by the vehicle engine by means of a belt system or "autonomous" when the operation takes place via its own diesel or even electric motor. For the refrigeration units, control and management systems are available which, in addition to simplifying the driver's action, allow for the reduction of diesel consumption, the cost of which constitutes about half of the total operating costs of the refrigeration unit.

Can you mention the UAE situation?

The fitters of chiller vans for rent in Abu Dhabi market are very many, with a considerable number of small fitters who, with lower operating costs than the larger fitters, are able to practice lower sales prices, sometimes at the expense of product quality. In the semi-trailer sector, on the other hand, Dubai manufacturers find themselves having to face the most important brands.

And what about the technological aspects?

In terms of technology, improvements have been made in the design, production and design phases. At the level of ATP regulations, there have been no significant changes. As for isothermal vans, the user expects a very high quality. In the towed sector (semi-trailers) today customers almost exclusively require the box body embedded in the front part of the frame, which allows a greater useful height for internal loading. There are also numerous requests for partitions for the transport of foodstuffs at different temperatures. As far as tractors are concerned, this is a market that follows precise indications from customers with the widest choice of application solutions.