RouteMax all-electric refrigeration solution
Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By David A Kolman
International Truck and Engine and Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies have jointly launched the new RouteMax — a technology that keeps products cold or frozen with innovative, efficient all-electric clean and green refrigeration while in transit exclusively on International medium duty DuraStar trucks with Johnson Premier bodies.
RouteMax is a self-powered, extended-route cold plate refrigeration system that charges cold plates — coated steel plates with tubing that contains a salt-brine solution — to provide a cost-effective way to maintain a cool temperature inside the truck body.
“A traditional cold plate refrigeration system requires overnight plug-in to re-freeze the salt brine,” says Ron Ricci, president of Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies. “With RouteMax, the plates also are recharged during the route by a condensing unit that quickly restores the truck body's internal temperature and removes heat from the cold plates.”
The power to charge the condensing unit comes from International's Diamond Logic PowerPack 3, Steve Guillaume, International's general manager-medium truck, says. “The first OEM factory-installed 3,000-watt AC power solution in the truck industry, PowerPack 3 offers fully integrated, on-demand power.”
Diamond Logic, the name of International's truck electrical system, uses multiplex technology to provide control and communication between major areas of its vehicles. The system is easily expandable through the use of remotely mounted power modules and air solenoid modules.
With RouteMax, truck body temperature can be monitored remotely from a password-protected Internet site using International's Aware Vehicle Intelligence, and the optional GPS-based solution that monitors the truck and body performance, says Guillaume. Aware uses telematics technology that links a truck's electrical system to a fleet's computer, allowing wireless monitoring of truck routes, performance, maintenance, security, and fuel.
While traditional cold plate systems hold the truck body's temperature during daily delivery runs of 10 to 12 hours, the RouteMax solution can allow users to deliver cold products for 16 to 20 hours per day. This is accomplished because the temperature is continually maintained, and the cold plates are charged when needed by the PowerPack 3 system.
