The Wabash National MSC refrigerated trailer with solar-electric TRU is now commercially available as a road-ready solution, the company announced. Wabash partnered with eNow and Carrier Transicold to offer this eco-friendly refrigerated haul, which was first shown as a zero-emission trailer at the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) meeting in February.
“We haven’t seen high demand for zero-emission trailers for refrigerated hauls due to the location and size of batteries,” said Robert Lane, Wabash National’s vice president of product innovations. “This is the first time a major trailer innovation has been coupled with a major TRU innovation that results in breakthrough customer value in a sustainable format.
“Our Molded Structural Composite [MSC] technology provides a unique platform for electric powered TRUs. The large gain in thermal efficiencies allow a customer to either downsize the batteries required to haul cargo or increase the run time on a battery setup,” he added.
The company says that the MSC technology in the Wabash National MSC Refrigerated Trailer gives a significant thermal performance, maximized payload capacity, corrosion resistance and a high standard floor rating.
The eNow Rayfrigeration System is a solar-electric power system that enables a full 12-hour route duration without employing a diesel engine to power the TRU. It can cut operating costs by more than 50% compared to diesel refers, the company says. Carrier Transicold’s engineless Vector 8100 unit is an all-electric trailer refrigeration system that the company says brings benefits of reduced maintenance and noise while eliminating emissions and fuel consumption associated with traditional diesel TRUs.
