Here, David Thorley, our Global Refrigeration Specialist and a member of the Institute of Refrigeration (M Inst R), shares his 5 top tips on how to get the most from a temperature monitoring system.
1. Don’t just measure air temperature at a single point
A vehicle refrigeration system is designed to maintain the product temperature and to do this it is necessary to ensure that adequate circulation of air exists in the compartment. Measuring temperature in both the air return to the fridge and roughly 2/3rds along the compartment is recommended. This gives a better understanding of fridge performance, air circulation and load distribution and in turn can lead to better overall temperature control – saving on fridge running costs.
2. Monitor important events
Monitoring key status events, such as fridge on/off, door open/closed and defrost on/off, in combination with temperature data will give a fuller picture of the vehicle’s refrigeration system operation. Simply ensuring that the driver always switches off the fridge before opening the compartment door can have a marked effect on maintaining temperature whilst at the same time help to save fuel.
3. Be prepared to challenge convention
Don’t assume that because you have always operated in a certain way that there’s no alternative. Often making simple operational changes can deliver the greatest return. One such example is ensuring that goods are thermally stabilised and only loaded onto the vehicle when at the correct temperature.
4. To optimise savings look beyond the vehicle and driver.
Reduced journey miles and time, and increased operational efficiencies are genuine returns that you should expect from improving vehicle usage and driver performance. Add in fewer load rejections, less product wastage, lower HACCP and Due Diligence compliance administration, plus improved risk profile leading to reduced load liability insurance costs are just some of the savings you could see.
5. Demonstrate your professionalism, win new business and command confidence from your customers
Improving temperature control and increasing your operational efficiency will result in numerous tangible benefits and enable direct and indirect savings to be made. Additionally, the confidence this can bring should better place you to win more business.
And remember, if data is ‘invisible’ or not utilised effectively then your businesses won’t see the returns this technology can undoubtedly provide. Our advice to anyone looking to invest in temperature monitoring technology is to look at the information provided with open eyes and be confident to drive change.
