If you do chilled goods home delivery, you need a refrigerated van, but to safeguard your profits, you want to run your van as efficiently as possible. To that end, you may want to consider the following tips.
1. Consider a Setup That uses the Truck Engine for Cooling
As a general rule of thumb, refrigerated vans can be cooled in two different ways. They can get their cooling energy from the main engine or from a separate diesel engine. Ultimately, the choice is yours, and you should compare the efficiency of both options. However, many manufacturers believe that you will reduce your fuel consumption if you opt to use the van or truck engine for cooling.
2. Load Cold Items Into the Van
The cooler the items you load into the van are, the less energy you will waste. For instance, if you deliver chilled goods, you may start with frozen goods that you want defrosted by the time you reach your customer's house. Some people thaw the goods the night before delivery, but to boost efficiency, you may want to let the items cool in your van.
Similarly, if you have goods that you need to cool down, you may want to cool them in the fridge or freezer in your warehouse. If you put those items into your refrigerated van to be chilled, that can waste a lot of energy.
3. Make Sure Your Doors Are Sealed
You can lose a lot of energy if your doors aren't closing properly. To be on the safe side, make sure that your doors have weather stripping around their edges and that they form a tight seal when closed. If you spend a lot of time loading or unloading, you may want to put in insulting PVC strips. They minimise the loss of cold air whilst you're moving in and out of the refrigerated section of your van.
4. Organise Your Inventory
To cut down on the amount of time you have the doors open, you may want to organise your inventory. Before loading the truck, look over your deliveries and make sure that they are in an optimal order for delivery. Then, load the van accordingly. For instance, you may want all the early deliveries at the front of the truck and all the afternoon deliveries in the back.
5. Park in the Shade
Finally, remember that outside temps can have an impact on the fuel efficiency of your vehicle and opt to park in the shade whenever possible. If the sun is beating down on the outside of your van, that can heat up your cooler and force it to work harder to stay cool.
