PCL Transport, which delivers enough milk on behalf of Arla Foods each week for 61 million cups of tea, has added 100 temperature controlled units from Carrier Transicold UK to its fleet. Carrier Transicold helps improve global transport and shipping temperature control with a complete line of equipment for refrigerated trucks, trailers and containers, and is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

The family-run company’s latest order includes 60 PIEK-certified Vector™1550 City units, which can operate at a noise level below 60 decibels, the equivalent of a normal conversation. This makes PCL the country’s largest operator of Carrier Transicold PIEK-compliant transport refrigeration technology.

“We chose Carrier’s PIEK-certified Vector 1550 City units as both PCL and Arla Foods take environmental responsibility very seriously,” said Shaun Stephenson, director, fleet and compliance, PCL. “The Vector 1550 City unit allows us to minimise the risk of noise disturbance on routes where we deliver to urban and residential areas.”

The Vector 1550 City units adhere to Europe’s most stringent noise abatement standard by reducing the sound emitted by the standard Vector 1550 model by more than 10 decibels, whilst providing the same key advantages of low fuel consumption, impressive reliability and lightweight design. PIEK standards were established in the Netherlands in 2003 to respond to growing concerns from local government and supermarkets, and stipulate that noise levels during night deliveries (from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.) must not surpass 60 decibels.

While the Netherlands paved the way in this field, numerous projects aimed at reducing noise pollution have since come to fruition in other European countries including France, the UK, Spain and Germany. The Vector 1550 City trailer unit is one of three PIEK-compliant models in Carrier Transicold’s range, and was recognised with a John Connell Award by the Noise Abatement Society in 2011.

PCL’s latest order also includes 30 Vector 1550 Extra Low Noise units – which meet a noise emission standard partway between that of the Vector 1550 City model and a standard Vector 1550 unit. All of these latest nose-mounted Vector units operate on new Montracon 13.6m and 10.4m reefers. Ten Supra™1150 refrigeration units, fitted to 26 tonne Renault rigid trucks, complete PCL’s order.

By specifying the Vector 1550 systems, PCL Transport will benefit from Carrier’s patented E-Drive™all-electric technology, which removes a large number of serviceable parts from the refrigeration cycle, substantially reducing maintenance and downtime compared with conventional belt-driven systems. It also allows for extremely precise temperature control +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius.

The Vector 1550 unit builds on the success of previous generations of Vector technology to combine a reduced capacity of 14,800 watts with low fuel consumption. This helps to reduce the total cost of ownership whilst also cutting overall carbon impact by up to 35 per cent compared to conventional systems. The Vector 1550 family also represent some of the lightest trailer refrigeration units on the market, helping to optimise PCL Transport’s payload capacity.

The truck-mounted Supra™systems – developed for distribution environments with multiple door openings, achieve rapid pull-down and accurate temperature control.

“We work on behalf of one of the largest dairies in Europe so maintaining accurate temperature integrity is absolutely essential; it is why we have specified Carrier Transicold units for this significant investment in our fleet. In our opinion, there is no better transport refrigeration equipment on the market,” added Stephenson.

Hoddeson-based PCL Transport runs a fleet of 250 tractor units and rigids, and 250 trailers. The company collectively makes more than 8,000 deliveries nationwide each week, travelling 240,000 km.

For more information on products and services from Carrier Transicold, visit www.transicold.carrier.com or www.coolbycarrier.com. Follow Carrier on Twitter: @CarrierGreen.