Based in Runcorn, the company operates a fleet of seven articulated trucks and nine trailers and has served as a regional distributor for a major supermarket for the past eight years.
Director, Marian Dudziak, was keen to reduce the running costs of the company’s refrigerated trailers and found the solution with Hultsteins: Its Ecogen2 onboard generator converts existing diesel – powered transport refrigeration units (TRUs) to run on its built-in electric motor. Ecogen2 can be retrofitted to any tractor unit with an engine power take-off. It generates 400 volts, and easily connects to the fridge motor via a five-pin plug.
Marian said, “We rented one unit to start, so we could establish what savings were achievable. When I did the calculations, it just made complete sense, so we fitted the rest of the fleet in the summer of 2023. The Ecogen units are saving us around £3-4,000 per month in diesel costs and reducing our carbon by around 8 to 9 tonnes per month.”
The ability to retrofit Ecogen to its existing Renault tractor units was a boon for KM Transport. It allowed the operator to modernise its current equipment withoutthe significant additional cost and time required to purchase new fridge trailers.
Acccording to Hultsteins, a shift from diesel to electric power for the TRUs, slashes DPM (diesel particulate matter) emissions by 98% and reduces Nox by at least four times which, says Hultstiens, provides the optimum sustainable solution. “We found further savings on the fridge’s diesel engine R&M as the system is mainly running on electric,” added Marian.
“It also allowed us to keep our existing trailers,” he added. “We didn’t need to get rid of our existing trailers just because we were looking for a different way to power the refrigeration units. By fitting one Ecogen to a tractor unit, we effectively transform every temp-controlled trailer it couples up with to an electric fridge. Plus, each time I change my tractors, Ecogen can be swapped easily and quickly onto the new one. Its great!”
