Confrontational technical analysis challenging refrigerated transport industry complacency. These articles expose systemic inefficiencies operators pay for but manufacturers won’t discuss: R25,000/year wasted on timer-based defrosts ignoring actual frost accumulation, 130W floor heat load from 70°C pavement that nobody calculates, “smart fleet” telematics systems that document failures instead of predicting them, and 1960s European specifications applied to African altitude and urban heat islands. Physics-based thermodynamic calculations with South African operational context. Written by operators who understand economics and refuse to accept “industry standard” as justification for waste. No marketing fluff—just confrontational engineering transparency backed by 770,000+ kilometers of real-world data.
Technical Articles
When your refrigerated courier vehicle sits in the Johannesburg sun, the loadbox roof climbs to 65°C while your cargo needs -18°C. That 83-degree temperature differential is why your TRU runs constantly and burns excessive fuel. Ceramic thermal coatings block 95% of solar heat at the surface—before it becomes your refrigeration system’s problem. Fleet testing shows 19-30% fuel reduction and payback within months, not years.
Technical Articles
Every TRU builder asks about product temperature at loading. The physics is real—but for courier operations, this question is less about proper sizing and more about pre-positioning blame. When equipment fails, “your product was too warm” becomes an unfalsifiable excuse.
Technical Articles
Average thermal load: 2.3 kW. Peak load at each door opening: 5-6 kW. A system rated for the average cannot handle the peaks. After each stop, temperature recovers partially before the next opening. Across 15 stops, a system “working perfectly” drifts from -18°C to -14°C. Recovery capacity is the metric nobody discusses.
Technical Articles
Long-haul transport: 2-4 door openings daily. Courier operations: 30-60. Same equipment gets sold for both applications. The thermal load difference? A factor of 10. The capacity requirement difference? 3.7×. The industry’s response? Sell you the cheaper option and blame your practices when it fails.
Technical Articles
Why do billion-rand racing programmes enclose their radiators while transport refrigeration installers insist condensers need “open air”? We calculated what the industry won’t: capture efficiency, pressure differentials, and recirculation losses. The results explain why your TRU underperforms — and what physics demands instead.
Technical Articles
A mini truck loses R10,000 annually to aerodynamic drag. A 16-ton rigid loses R35,000. An interlink loses R70,000. Same physics, same fixable problem zones, different zeros on the savings. This comprehensive guide breaks down the seven drag zones costing your fleet money, quantifies the annual waste, and shows bodybuilders how to turn aerodynamic improvements into a competitive advantage.
Technical Articles
Your warehouse staff call it “playing Tetris.” So do we. But in 2002, MIT proved Tetris is NP-hard – no computer can guarantee the optimal solution. Palletising is worse: 3D instead of 2D, mixed box sizes, weight limits, crush resistance, and the physics of surviving 1,200km on the N1. This article breaks down why a 30-box pallet has 10⁵⁵ possible configurations, why standard South African stock boxes don’t tile perfectly on Euro pallets, and why telling us what you’re sending before it arrives saves both of us money.
Technical Articles
EPS vs PUR vs PIR: Complete insulation materials comparison for frozen food transport. The R22,000 you “save” costs R250,000 over vehicle lifetime. Engineering truth.
Technical Articles
Your “smart fleet” is just a thermometer with WiFi. Real intelligence requires physics-based predictive analytics, not reactive alarms. R60k/year wasted.
Technical Articles
Refrigerated transport specifications obsess over solar radiation from above while completely ignoring the 70°C heat source below. South African trucks operate on pavement surfaces 20-30°C hotter than ambient air, yet floor insulation is consistently half that of roofs. The physics is simple, but the industry won’t calculate the cost.