<img width="150" src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/articles/m-electricreefer-twotrucks-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
Two of D&D's trucks outfitted with Volta Air electric reefers. Photo courtesy Second Generation Cooling and Volta Air.
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Two of D&D's trucks outfitted with Volta Air electric reefers. Photo courtesy Second Generation Cooling and Volta Air.
">California's continued push toward fewer and fewer emissions has affected all companies that use trucks in the state, and fleets that rely on trucks to deliver products are no exception. D&D Wholesale Distributors in City of Industry, Calif., has been distributing produce, meats, poultry, grocery, non-foods, frozen foods and dairy in the Southern California area since 1979, and it's responding to the demand by moving to all-electric refrigeration units for its delivery trucks.
“Because of the ARB problem in California, we looked really deep into the future and decided we wanted to go battery operated,” explains Frank Ulloa with Second Generation Cooling, also in the LA area, which handles refrigeration needs for D&D's 40 trucks.
They found a Canadian company, Volta Air, that offers all-electric refrigeration units for vans and medium-duty delivery trucks. Last year they installed a unit it a smaller truck, an Isuzu. It worked “wonderful,” according to Ulloa, so this summer they added a larger-size unit incorporating solar panels on a larger Hino box truck.
Not only will the move make the reefer units eco-friendly, they'll also save money — Ulloa says $3,500 a year just in fuel, not counting savings in maintenance costs. And, he says, the up-front cost is actually less than a traditional reefer unit.
Peter Johnston with Volta Air explains that the Vancouver, Canada-based company started out with a no-idle electric auxiliary power unit for long-haul trucking, and has been working with the Canadian government and educational institutions on further developing its electric compressor and control systems. The D&D unit installed this summer is the third one they have running in California but they're ready to do more with the help of Second Generation Cooling.
“If you're stopped, you leave your
