Proper thermal performance and efficiency in your refrigerated trailers are crucial. A thorough trailer maintenance plan is essential to preserve cargo quality and ensure operational efficiency. In this article, we’ll highlight best practices for maintaining your trailer’s thermal performance, focusing on components like TRUs, batteries, and advanced technologies such as FleetPulse and the Everest Strata System to help you work more efficiently.
Key Points:
- Benefits of the Everest Strata System for thermal efficiency and long-term durability
- Importance of thermal performance to safeguard temperature-sensitive cargo
- TRU maintenance basics: inspecting for leaks, checking belts, and ensuring battery health
- Advanced TRU maintenance: managing starters, alternators, and software updates
Maximize Thermal Performance with the Everest Strata System
If your fleet carries temperature-sensitive cargo, you know how quickly the safety of those goods can be at risk. High ambient heat and humidity can spell disaster in the form of compromised quality, spoilage, and mold. It’s not just the product you’re hauling that gets ruined—it’s your reputation, too.
That’s where we come in. Engineers designed our Everest Strata System to provide enhanced thermal performance in refrigerated trailers, even under extreme conditions.
What Makes the Everest Strata System Work for You
Great Dane’s Everest Strata System is designed to maintain consistent temperature control, prevent insulation degradation, and help eliminate odors and stains. Our unique system combines several key components to ensure your cargo stays safe and arrives at the right temperature.
PunctureGuard: Standard with the Strata System, this lightweight, durable composite liner provides exceptional protection against punctures and tears, helping to prolong the lifespan of the trailer’s interior walls and cargo space.
ThermoGuard: For the ultimate interior protection, upgrade to Strata+ with ThermoGuard. This patented composite liner helps maintain thermal efficiency. Its multi-layer construction, including a metal barrier, helps retain cold air, reducing strain on the refrigeration unit. ThermoGuard improves fuel efficiency, prolongs trailer life, and offers superior protection against temperature loss, even in extreme conditions.
Jennifer Frady, Product Marketing Manager at Great Dane, said the ThermoGuard upgrade is also an investment that lasts years into the future.
“Strata+ adds increased thermal efficiency through ThermoGuard, which keeps insulation from degrading at a quick rate. That makes your trailer perform better and be more thermally efficient for a longer period of time,” Frady explained.
Microban: PunctureGuard and ThermoGuard liners are infused with Microban antimicrobial technology, which helps prevent the growth of bacteria, mold, and mildew. This keeps your trailer cleaner and reduces odors when carrying perishable goods.
Ultra Road Shield: Our Everest trailers feature Ultra Road Shield side skins and hot-dipped galvanized parts for superior corrosion resistance and the ability to withstand the harshest road conditions.
ClimaCore: Everest trailers come equipped with ClimaCore, which uses Hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology to boost thermal efficiency while minimizing environmental impact. This helps you stay compliant with eco-friendly regulations.
Tim Schmeits, Great Dane’s Everest Product Director, said being able to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact wasn’t always the case, before ClimaCore.
“In the past, as insulation technology became more environmentally friendly, the insulation values of the foam were slightly lower than that of the generation prior,” said Schmeits. “However, in this generation, we got an advantage on both sides, where the thermal efficiency of the foam increased as we became more environmentally friendly. It’s an unusual circumstance, so we’re proud of it.”
More Than Just Thermal Performance
Our Everest trailers help protect temperature-sensitive cargo and offer multi-temperature configurations for flexibility when hauling diverse goods. Plus, our durable aluminum floor is moisture-resistant and wood-free, helping to eliminate the risk of rot or decay for added longevity.
“This system is extremely thermally efficient, corrosion resistant, and damage resistant,” Frady added. “It checks all three boxes, not just thermal efficiency. Those three things work together to extend the life of the trailer.”
Refrigerated Trailer Maintenance Tips
Even with the best technology, regular maintenance is critical. We recommend thorough TRU checks, including looking for leaks, testing belt tension, and ensuring your battery is in top condition.
Here are some best practices to follow during your next TRU preventative maintenance routine:
- TRU Maintenance Basics: TRUs can really be put through the wringer when working through high heat. Initial inspections should focus on detecting fluid leaks and checking belt tension and batteries. Batteries may be at risk of being completely drained if the TRU battery is used by other ancillary systems that run in the background, so be sure yours is in good shape and sufficiently charged for your next haul. AGM or FLA batteries are both considered high-quality in the industry and are recommended for this application.
- Advanced TRU Maintenance: Starters and alternators can be affected by the number of times a TRU stops and starts throughout the day. Check on these according to the component manufacturer’s maintenance schedule, and be careful not to overwork them. Double-check that your refrigeration system components are running on the latest software, and make sure the software is up to date. Also, using FleetPulse to monitor and set alarms for low battery voltage, low charging levels, fuel consumption time, and zone discharge temperature are easy ways to be proactive on TRU maintenance needs.
While regular maintenance is necessary, Schmeits said the improved thermal efficiencies of the Everest Strata System can reduce the run time and start/stop on TRUs, helping extend TRU maintenance intervals, translating to less time in the shop.
“Not only when new, but over the life of the trailer, run hours of the cooling unit will be lower. That means longer intervals for routine maintenance like oil changes, which also means less downtime,” Schmeits explained.
Our Everest Strata System delivers a powerful solution for improving thermal performance for refrigerated trailers. With advanced features like PunctureGuard, ThermoGuard, Microban, and Climacore the system ensures consistent temperature control, superior cargo quality, and long-term efficiency.
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Learn more about topics like thermal integrity to keep your trailers at the top of their game by accessing the complete collection of online ETT magazines.
