Alliance Shippers Inc. is enhancing its refrigerated intermodal operations in North America with Carrier Transicold’s telematics solution and Vector™ thin-profile refrigeration units.
The solution, supported by Carrier Transicold’s monitor and enhanced control two-way data plan, is being installed on all 1,500 of Alliance Shippers’ 53-foot trailers and intermodal containers, improving on the fleet’s prior system with a range of benefits that go beyond temperature monitoring and control, tracking asset location and movement.
Alliance Shippers’ refrigerated domestic intermodal containers and trailers ship a wide range of perishable and frozen goods across North America. A significant and growing portion of this commerce includes fresh produce harvested in California, Arizona and the Pacific Northwest and then transported via rail to metropolitan areas in the Midwest, Atlantic Coast and Southeast.
Alliance Shippers is enhancing its intermodal operations with Carrier Transicold’s telematics solution for remote monitoring of its trailer and container assets.
“Telematics brings us different capabilities,” said Ronald Topp, director of maintenance, Alliance Shippers Inc., headquartered in Chicago with refrigerated operations there and in Rialto, California and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. “We want to proactively monitor freight in real time at any point in the supply chain, and the improved visibility telematics provides enables us to support customers with updated information.”
The solution also allows users to:
- Run pre-trip inspections remotely and verify that fuel tanks are topped off.
- Monitor fuel consumption within geofenced areas, such as distribution centers.
- Proactively monitor equipment performance remotely, using Carrier Transicold’s unit analytics.
- Upgrade refrigeration unit software over the air, significantly improving efficiencies.
The telematics system is fully supported by Carrier Transicold’s network of factory trained technicians.
“We are pleased to support Alliance Shippers through our knowledgeable and expansive dealer network,” said David Brondum, director of telematics, Carrier Transicold.
Concurrent with the telematics upgrade, which is being handled by Carrier Transicold dealer Valley Transport Refrigeration of Fresno, California, Alliance Shippers is modernizing its fleet, converting from the traditional trailer-on-flatcar model to modern, stackable 53-foot domestic intermodal containers preferred by railroads. For its latest 200 containers, its specified Vector models from Carrier Transicold’s portfolio of thin-profile refrigeration units that allow for a larger cargo envelope than possible with traditional intermodal container configurations, resulting in a volume comparable to over-the-road trailers. Each is equipped with Carrier Transicold’s rail-optimized solar charging system, providing 4.2 Amps of current.
Vector series units feature E-Drive™ technology, an all-electric refrigeration system powered by a high-output generator direct-coupled to a diesel engine. The hybrid diesel-electric design eliminates complexity found in traditional transport refrigeration systems and uses intelligent controls to work more efficiently.
Energy efficiency is critical to Carrier’s progress in reducing its customers' carbon footprint by more than one gigaton, while also achieving carbon neutral operations by 2030, as outlined in its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Goals.
For more information:
Mary Udry
Carrier Transicold
Tel: +1 (706) 357-7242
mary.udry@carrier.com
https://www.carrier.com/