Refrigerated Transport FAQ

If you are interested in refrigerated transport but don't know a whole lot about it, fear not as most people aren't exactly experts. The majority of UK companies offering the service have professional and knowledgeable customer service staff that can tell you all that you need to know. Before calling them however, here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about refrigerated transport.

Refrigerated Transport FAQs #1:  How Do I Find a Reliable Company?

This is the most frequently asked question about refrigerated transport. Considering the size and fragility of many loads, choosing an unreliable refrigerated transport company could prove incredibly costly.

I think that the best factors to base your decision upon are a company's reputation and experience when it comes to specifically transporting the type of product that you are wishing to transport. Personal recommendations from business contacts can of course prove invaluable when it comes to this.

Refrigerated Transport FAQs #2: Why is it so Expensive?

Upon first researching prices, many companies who are familiar with the price of other forms of transport are surprised by the extent of the increase in price. The significant increase is not in fact down to increased profit margins but a number of unavoidable factors. The first reason is that the vehicles that are used are far more expensive to both purchase and maintain. The second is that those vehicles use diesel for the cooling while en route so they pay a lot more per mile of each trip. The last reason is that far more care needs to be taken when transferring perishables than when transferring more durable cargo.

Refrigerated Transport FAQs #3: Do all Companies offer RT Tracking?

Almost all refrigerator transport companies do indeed offer real time tracking so you can be aware at all times just where your load is. More and more companies are now starting to offer real time information on not just the location but also the temperature within the cooling compartment. This means that for particularly expensive perishables, you will always know that they are both on time and in the right conditions.

Refrigerated Transport FAQs #4: Can I Transport Perishables at Different Temperatures?

While in the past, it would have been necessary to use multiple vehicles or freights, the majority of companies now provide multiple individually temperature controlled compartments within a single vehicle. You can therefore transport a variety of different perishables without paying for multiple vehicles.

Refrigerated Transport FAQs #5: Is Refrigerated Transport Bad for the Environment?

Yes, it certainly is. It is estimated that 1.2 percent of the UK's carbon emissions are a result of the transport of food and that 8% of Europe's refrigerated transport actually occurs on UK roads. You can limit the damage done however by choosing a company that is responsible when it comes to their carbon emissions. Many companies take the matter very seriously and their actions range from using CFC free cooling to installing electronic standby systems which allow cooling to occur through the use of electricity as opposed to diesel when vehicles are stationary.