When it comes to hauling refrigerated cargo, ensuring the integrity of the product is paramount, especially now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rule on the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food. The goal is to prevent food safety risks such as failure to properly refrigerate food, inadequate cleaning of vehicles between loads and failure to protect food during transportation. Equipment plays an essential role in meeting the new standards, and it starts with specifying the right reefer trailer.
Three key factors can make a huge difference in whether the foods you carry are protected: thermal efficiency, a clean environment and durability of the trailer interior.
1. Thermal Efficiency
Maintaining the proper temperature is the first step in ensuring food safety. Be sure to look for offerings that can help keep temperatures consistent. For example, Great Dane’s Everest lineup offers an advanced modular panel foaming process, which produces a more thermally consistent cargo environment. On Everest reefers, the optional ThermoGuard lining with a Great Dane proprietary barrier layer helps maintain a reefer’s thermal efficiency over the life of the trailers.
Additionally, the bonded roof system is lightweight and thermally efficient, and the heavy-duty, TTMA-rated 18,000-pound aluminum duct floor is engineered to prevent moisture intrusion and provide maximum durability.
2. A Clean Environment
When hauling sensitive food products, cross-contamination is a real concern. To help haulers combat contamination, Great Dane has added broad-spectrum antimicrobial protection to its PunctureGuard and ThermoGuard reefer linings. The linings help fight bacteria growth, stains and odors for the entire life of the trailer.
Great Dane is the only trailer manufacturer to offer antimicrobial protection in its liners.
3. Dependable Durability
Life on the road is tough. You want to make sure that your trailers protect the cargo and stand the test of time. The skeletal structure of Great Dane’s Everest reefers is among the strongest on the road, featuring a corrosion-resistant stainless steel rear frame that is engineered for a combination of maximum strength and light weight.
Everest trailers come standard with PunctureGuard interior lining, which is lighter and stronger than any other lining option. Additionally, PunctureGuard has nearly three times the peel strength of other linings, making it extremely resistant to delamination, and it provides the most impact resistance available in trailer linings.
Of course, there are myriad other trailer options you’ll want to dive into before making your purchase, but keeping these three key spec’ing considerations in mind will help you navigate the entire array of reefer offerings.
Spotlight on Safety
See and be seen – that’s the key to visibility safety. LED lighting is seeing increased adoption across all segments of the trucking industry and these lights can help you spot a dirty surface easier. Great Danewill soon offer LED strip lighting in the cove molding of its Everest reefers to provide more uniform lighting coverage, resulting in fewer shadows and greater freedom in the placement of bulkheads and remote evaporators. Since the lights are mounted at the wall-to-roof connection, they are less likely to be damaged by cargo dragging along the ceiling lining.
The Grote sealed lighting harness prevents moisture intrusion, allows for custom wiring, is extremely durable and will be backed by a 10-year warranty.
