Hauliers know the power source for temperature-controlled transport is moving from fossil fuels to electricity, but how they get there isn’t so straightforward. Kevin Swallow talks to Scott Dargan about what is on offer from Carrier Transicold and the challenges operators face.
GO TO the Carrier website and click on products and up pops a list of four ‘electric solutions’, known collectively as the eCool Series. Since the government announced it would end the rebate for red diesel (on 1 April 2022), operators have been in search of alternatives like these to the tried and tested internal combustion of their auxiliary engines.
That quest hasn’t been straightforward. Spiralling commercial electricity rates has led to some long-haul trailer operators persisting with white diesel and shying away from making any real change. Such short-termism has, in some cases, delayed decision making, with many citing concerns about capital outlay and return on investment.
Scott Dargan, Carrier’s managing director for the UK and northern Europe, explained that those fears are unfounded, that the alternatives to diesel are there, well established and are already being specified by its customers.
