Keep the Wheels Rolling

The Seven Cost Levers: Where to Spend Your Rands on a Refrigerated Vehicle Build

Every refrigerated vehicle build involves seven interconnected cost levers: insulation, TRU sizing, compressor type, condenser design, defrost systems, compressor lifecycle, and evaporator sizing. Get them wrong, and each bad decision cascades into the next—poor insulation forces larger TRUs, which run longer, which kill compressors faster. We break down how a “budget” build at R90,000 upfront becomes R947,500 over 10 years, while an engineered build at R170,000 costs just R575,000. That R80,000 you “saved”? It costs you R4.66 for every rand.

The Insulation Materials Guide: Why Your Refrigerated Vehicle Can’t Maintain -15°C (And What to Do About It)

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.

The Professional’s Guide to Dry Ice for Frozen Delivery: When Refrigerated Trucks Aren’t Available

We don’t deliver everywhere with refrigerated trucks—economics won’t allow it. But professional dry ice packaging extends frozen delivery beyond our routes.

The Ice Pack Delusion: Why Cardboard Boxes Can’t Replace Refrigeration

Ice pack frozen delivery makes 3× more profit per delivery than professional refrigeration—but collapses in 3 years. Here’s why margins don’t matter.

The “Smart Fleet” Delusion: Why Telematics Without Physics Is Just a Fancy Logbook

Your “smart fleet” is just a thermometer with WiFi. Real intelligence requires physics-based predictive analytics, not reactive alarms. R60k/year wasted.

Radiating Upward: The Thermal Load Nobody Calculated (And Why Your Floor Is The Weakest Link)

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.

The Constant-Speed Curse: Why Variable-Speed DC Compressors Could Slash Your Duty Cycle by 40%—But Direct-Drive Mounting Is Holding Them Hostage

Your fixed-speed compressor wastes 40% of its energy on crude thermostat control. Variable-speed DC systems save R12,500/year. Here’s why you can’t buy one.

The Defrost Cycle Dictatorship: How Timed Defrosts Waste R25,000 Per Vehicle Per Year

60-year-old timer-based defrost control designed for long-haul trucks wastes R25,000 annually on courier operations. Demand-based pressure sensing solves this in 4 months.

Your Truck is a 4-Ton Brick Fighting Wind at 100 km/h: The Aerodynamic Design Revolution That Could Save You R150,000 Per Vehicle Over Five Years (But Nobody’s Building It)

4-ton refrigerated trucks waste R20,350/year fighting aerodynamic drag. Composite bodies cut fuel costs 39% while solving the flat wall problem nobody addresses.

The Aerodynamic Cost of Larger Condensers: The Fairing Effect Nobody Calculated

Everyone assumes larger condensers create more drag. They’re wrong. Behind every courier truck cab sits a 1.4-2.0m² flat loadbox wall creating massive drag (C_d ~1.15). Small condensers cover only 20% of it. Large horizontal condensers covering 70-90% act as integrated fairings, SAVING R2,751-R3,528/year in aerodynamic drag—while providing 50-100% more cooling capacity. The loadbox wall is the problem. Large condensers are the solution. Net benefit: R12,751-R15,528/year (aerodynamics + thermodynamics). Payback: 7-13 months.

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