EXPLORATORY COOLING TESTS WITH 40-FOOT REFRIGERATED TRAILER AND CONTAINER VANS

Research has been done in Florida to identify the causes of deterioration of fruits and vegetables during transport by truck and railroad piggyback, as related to cooling during transit. Experiments were performed to measure the influence of types of shipping containers and loading patterns on product deterioration, and to measure the effectiveness of the refrigeration systems in refrigerated vans. The instrumented stationary cooling tests were made on fully loaded 40-foot trailer and container vans. This publication covers the findings that relate to the performance of the refrigeration systems in the vans used in the experiments. The data are limited in their scope and application, and should not be considered an accurate measure of the performance of all refrigerated vans under the widely varying conditions in which the vans are used to transport perishable products. The wide range of temperatures that may be found in these vans is shown, to alert manufacturers and users of the equipment to possible problems in its use and the need for improvements.

• Corporate Authors:

  Agricultural Research Service

  Transportation and Facilities Research Division
  Beltsville, MD  United States 
• Authors:
  • Anthony Jr, J P
• Publication Date: 1970-3

Media Info

• Features: Appendices;
• Pagination: 11 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Chilled cargo; Containers; Refrigerated cargo; Refrigeration (Structures); Refrigeration systems; Stowage; Temperature control (Structures); Vegetables
• Old TRIS Terms: Cargo stowage; Cargo ventilation
• Subject Areas: Construction; Freight Transportation; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00051876
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Agricultural Marketing Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: ARS 52-48
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 25 1974 12:00AM