Refrigerated Transport Basics

Transporting goods across the sunburnt country we call home isn’t just a matter of loading items into any old truck and taking them from A to B; there are some goods that need to be transported with extra care and consideration, such as fruits, vegetables and meats.

At Shaw’s Darwin Transport, we specialise in interstate refrigerated transport to ensure perishable goods reach their destination safely and at the required temperature.

With extensive experience under our belt in this service, we wanted to share three interesting facts about temperature controlled, refrigerated trucks.

What is a Refrigerated Truck?

A refrigerated truck is designed to transport refrigerated and/or frozen goods, such as meats, fruits and other produce, to their destination in the ideal temperature.

At Shaw’s Darwin Transport, we can change the temperature in our refrigerated trucks from ambient down to -25C, depending on what the customer needs. To ensure the temperature stays ideal throughout the journey, we also offer our customers temperature monitoring capability.

If you want to learn more about refrigerated transport through Shaw’s Darwin Transport, you can head over to our blog to learn more.

Fact 1: Refrigerated Transport Started with Trains…

In the modern world we must often remind ourselves of just how far technology has advanced over the last couple of centuries.

Case and point – the use of refrigeration systems during transport service began in the 1800s on trains, where large blocks of ice were used to keep perishable items cool as they were transported from place to place.

It took until 1938 for the first automatic, mechanical refrigerated truck to be designed by American man Frederick McKinley Jones. His system was essentially a portable air conditioning unity that cooled the air inside of the trucks to allow the transport of perishable foods.

Fact 2: Referred in the Industry as ‘Reefers’

While the word ‘reefer’ comes with a number of different meanings and connotations, it is used in the trucking industry to refer to a refrigerated trailer or truck.

Reefers can be purely ‘cooling’ trucks, which are designed to transport refrigerated and frozen goods, or they can be temperature controlled – like the fleet at Shaw’s Darwin Transport.

Fact 3: It Just Keeps Going

When a refrigerated truck is well maintained and cared for, it can travel over 1,600,000km (1.6 million kilometres)!

This is pretty impressive given the lifespan of a standard passenger vehicle today is only around 240,000 – 320,000km.

It’s helpful that these trucks just keep going and going because believe it or not, around 90 per cent of foods are transported via refrigerated trucks in Australia.

Get the Refrigerated Transport with Shaw’s Darwin Transport

At Shaw’s Darwin Transport, we’ve been transporting goods safely and efficiently since 1981 – a whole 40 years!

As a trusted name in the industry, you can rely on the entire team at Shaw’s to take the heat out of booking a refrigerated transport service.

Contact Shaw’s Darwin Transport today for competitively priced refrigerated freight services between Perth, Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney.