NR Evans Enhances Fleet with Carrier Transicold’s New Vector® 1550 Units

23 February 2011

WARRINGTON, United Kingdom, February 22, 2011 – Essential savings in fuel and maintenance costs are hallmarks of success for Welsh haulier NR Evans, as it adds five new Vector® 1550 refrigerated trailer units from Carrier Transicold to its fleet to keep dairy products chilled to perfection. Carrier Transicold is a unit of Carrier Corp., the world’s leader in high technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, improving the world around us through engineered innovation and environmental stewardship. Carrier Corp. is a business unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

The addition of the versatile Vector 1550 units marks the Carmarthen-based temperature controlled distribution specialist’s first use of Carrier trailer refrigeration technology. The new tri-axle refrigerated box trailers, built to bespoke specifications by Chereau, will be utilised as part of NR Evans’ contract with Dairy Crest for milk operations to major supermarkets nationwide.

“There are two main elements to delivering value,” said Roger Noke, group transport manager at NR Evans. “One is to move with the demands of customers, and the second is to make good business decisions that reduce overheads and enable us to remain competitive.

“Our goal is to reduce maintenance costs and fuel usage, and we believe that the latest technology from Carrier will help us achieve that. We have fitted Carrier’s Supra® truck units on several of our rigid vehicles over the last few years, and these have performed well. The service we have received has also been exemplary. It therefore made sense to use Carrier technology to achieve further operational improvements.

“We were motivated to adopt the Vector 1550 technology because of the anticipated improvement in fuel economy and the comparative cost of contract maintenance.”

The Vector 1550 is perfectly suited to mono-temperature operations, combining a smaller capacity of 14,800 Watts with lower fuel consumption. A patented combination of a hermetic compressor with an economiser allows for optimised energy consumption and enables the use of a smaller 1.5 litre diesel engine. Additionally, all-electric technology allows for increased reliability and uptime as units contain fewer serviceable parts.

The new trailers, which are additions to the NR Evans fleet, will operate 24/7 out of the company’s Aldridge depot, and each unit will be covered by Carrier Transicold’s five-year Golden Cold® fixed cost repair and maintenance agreement. This includes all maintenance recommended by Carrier Transicold, genuine replacement parts and 24-hour breakdown assistance throughout the UK.

NR Evans runs more than 200 vehicular assets, including 110 trailers, 70 artics, 30 rigid trucks and four vans. The company estimates that each new trailer will travel 150,000 km per year and anticipates these trailers will remain in the fleet for the next seven years.

“It’s encouraging to see the initial trust in our technology grow into subsequent orders and indeed, into other application areas,” said Bob Talbot, key account manager for Carrier Transicold UK. “NR Evans is a prime example of a company that meticulously analyses its business aspirations whilst keeping the needs of its customers front-of-mind.”