To manage its growing online grocery delivery service, major supermarket chain Woolworths will have received over 1,000 Thermaxx Advantage multi-temperature trucks by December 2019– all built to strict criteria by TRS and Thermaxx
According to IBISWorld online grocery sales are expected to rise at an annualised 21.7% over the five years through 2018-19, to total $3.3 billion. This trend includes an increase of 24.6% in the current year. Despite an initial reluctance to shop for groceries online, demand has grown strongly over the past five years. Online grocery retailers are increasingly targeting busy tech-savvy consumers that appreciate the convenience of being able to order at any time for direct delivery.
“The Woolworths order is the single largest order of refrigerated trucks in Australia,” says TRS Managing Director, Greg Woodley. “We started producing the multi-temperature trucks for Woolworths in May 2013.”
The Thermaxx Advantage refrigerated trucks for Woolworths are all two-compartment multi-temp vehicles that are ideal for grocery delivery, says Greg. “When you visit a supermarket, you buy fresh, frozen and ambient groceries that have different temperature needs. We designed the vans to mimic the in-store experience as closely as possible.”
According to Greg, the supermarket chain chose to order from the TRS brand as it had very strict payload needs that only Thermaxx could meet. “The weight criteria were so strict that we couldn’t achieve them with locally made panels. So, I went to Europe and sourced a better fibreglass composite panel from a big manufacturer, and we introduced it to the Australian market,” Greg explains.
The advanced nature of panels from the European company meant that Thermaxx was able to achieve high strength, lightweight product that Greg says is ‘far superior’ in its insulation integrity and construction to anything seen before in Australia. “It’s a unique process the encompasses the latest composite technology – there are no metal fasteners holding them together, which makes its insulation ability second to none in the Australian marketplace,” Greg says.
“These vans have gone Australia-wide – all the way up to Darwin and Katherine in the NT and several in Tasmania. They’re working in all climatic conditions, but the latest European penal technology from IFAC in the vans can handle it all.”
Since introducing the technology to Australia, Thermaxx has completed many composite fibreglass bodies for various other companies including DHL, Bidvest, Simon George, Superior Foods, Micway and DKR transport. “We bought extra people in for the Woolworths contracts and have since absorbed them into the business, as we are now building for lots of other companies that saw the benefits of our unique technology,” says Greg – adding that the feedback from Woolworths has been very positive “We were able to produce very large numbers of trucks very quickly, delivered all of the vehicles on time and met the strict criteria that were set for what Woolworths was trying to achieve – more payload for its delivery cycles,” he says.
“Thermaxx truck bodies have been tested by SuperTest at its purpose-built environmental test centre that provides the total capability to test, in real-world conditions, HVACR cooling and thermal systems as well as any other component affected by changes in temperature and humidity. ‘K’ Value is a value of the amount of thermal conductivity of heat, in watts, that is transferred into a truck or trailer body through leakage or failure of construction materials,” Greg says. “In short, if your panels are inadequately insulated or the construction methods are substandard you will have a HIGHER ‘K’ Value. The LOWER the ‘K’ Value of the completed body the HIGHER thermal efficiencies you will have. Also, all are fitted with a Thermo King V500 Spectrum refrigeration unit, designed to meet all the requirements of the two-temperature distribution sector, the V500 Spectrum provides maximum flexibility thanks to its ability to switch between fresh, frozen and deep frozen temperatures in each compartment. The range has minimal environmental impact as the refrigeration unit compressor is driven by the vehicle engine, offering exceptionally low noise and low emissions. Matched with the Thermaxx body this will help drive down operating costs,” Greg explains.
