UK – Gregory Distribution, which will celebrate 100 years of trading in 2019, have announced that they have reached an agreement with Carrier to equip 10 trailers with Vector 1550 systems to help fulfil a contract with Mondelēz International to deliver Cadbury’s chocolate.

The 10 mono-temperature Vector 1550 units, which will be mounted to 15.6 metre Gray & Adams tri-axle longer semi-trailers (LSTs) and based in Birmingham, will join a more than 2,000-strong fleet of commercial vehicles already in use at Gregory Distribution.

Commenting on the new contract, Andy Price, the technical support manager for Gregory Distribution, stated that “Gregory Distribution has enjoyed a long working relationship with Carrier Transicold UK, and we’re certain our new Vector 1550 units, combined with the LSTs, will provide the ideal mix of capacity, fuel efficiency, low maintenance and reliability for the Cadbury’s contract.”

Gregory Distribution hope that they will be able to maximise the payload potential on the 15.6 metre LSTs via the Vector 1550 unit’s cooling capacity of 14,995 Watts combined with improved fuel efficiency. Carrier claim that the payload can be maximised using a patented combination of a hermetic compressor with an economiser, enabling the use of a highly efficient 1.5 litre diesel engine. The company further claims that the economiser is capable of supplying up to a 40% increase in refrigeration capacity during pull-down, before automatically reducing during the temperature regulation phase to save fuel.

The 10 Vector 1550 units will also benefit from an everCOLD repair and maintenance contract, which should help ensure that a nationwide network of service providers and mobile engineers are on hand to keep Gregory Distribution’s units operating at maximum efficiency.

The Vector 1550 systems feature Carrier Transicold’s patented E-Drive all-electric technology, which, the company claims, can reduce refrigerant leak rates by as much as 55% compared to conventional systems using standard technology, thereby helping to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. The E-Drive technology also has the additional feature of causing a number of serviceable parts to be removed from the unit, substantially reducing maintenance and downtime and helping to deliver precise temperature control of +/- 0.8 degrees Celsius.