Bidfood, a Bidcorp UK business, has added two 18-tonne (approx. 39,700 lb) Scania P250 trucks with multi-temp bodies from Gray & Adams and ECOOLTEC TM182 transport refrigeration units to its fleet. The company said the purchase is intended to accelerate the decarbonisation of its refrigerated vehicle fleet and reduce the carbon footprint of its transport operations.
The wholesaler operates 1,350 refrigerated vehicles across the UK. The two new trucks are used for regional distribution to customers including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and restaurants, and Faye Reeve, Head of Procurement at Bidcorp UK, said the systems had performed well after several weeks in daily use.
Reeve said the initial refrigerant fill alone can remove 19 to 25 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (approx. 21 to 27.6 US tons) per vehicle from the cold chain, depending on the competing product used for comparison. Bidfood keeps its refrigerated vehicles for around 10 years and said purchasing decisions therefore focus on total cost of ownership, including energy efficiency, maintenance costs and spare-parts availability.
According to the source, ECOOLTEC’s transport refrigeration systems can operate electrically via the truck engine, a battery or a separate power alternator and do not require an integrated diesel engine. The company also said its systems use natural refrigerants instead of fluorinated refrigerants such as R452A and R410A.
“Our fleet has run electric driven transport refrigeration units for over 15 years, but the ECOOLTEC product offered an opportunity to go further and address the use of refrigerants,” said Faye Reeve, Head of Procurement at Bidcorp UK. “ECOOLTEC utilises wholly natural refrigerants, with virtually zero global warming potential. This is really attractive to us at Bidfood, particularly as we focus more on decarbonising our fleet and continuing our mission to be a positive force for change.”
