CP chills out—and goes green—with Thermo-King

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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The Thermo King SLXi-DRC uses environmentally friendly R-452A refrigerant. Thermo King illustration

Canadian Pacific Railway has selected Thermo King SLXi-DRC refrigeration units for a large purchase of DRCs (domestic refrigerated containers). CP is the first Thermo King customer to purchase the SLXi-DRC unit in North America.

CP and Thermo King collaborated on an extensive, four-month field test of the SLXi-DRC to verify performance of the technology in the rugged environment and climate of Canadian railways.

“We installed the unit on a six-year-old CP container and tested performance on a variety of loads—from fresh, to frozen, to pharmaceuticals, and on temperature extremes of -15 to 65 degrees F,” said Don Bradd, Vice President and General Manager, Thermo King Eastern Canada. “Performance downloads were taken regularly, and our partners at CP recorded fuel levels before and after every trip. Internal box temperatures were always well below targets, and fuel economy, quality and reliability were all proven with the SLXi-DRC.”

The SLXi-DRC has a slim profile that increases cargo capacity by providing room for an extra pallet row of cargo space in the container. The SLXi-DRC also uses next-generation, lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant, R-452A, “helping companies like CP and Thermo King meet sustainability goals,” the company said.

“At CP, it is important that we use equipment that is both efficient and reliable to best serve our customers,” said Jonathan Wahba, CP Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Intermodal and Automotive. “By introducing the new Thermo King SLXi-DRC to our fleet and to our CP TempPro service offering, we can offer highly reliable, innovative and sustainable refrigeration options to our customers.”

“We presented the SLXi-DRC refrigeration unit last year as a concept to our North America DRC rail customers, and we received a great response,” said Dane Taival, Vice President and General Manager, Thermo King North America. “The ability to add an additional pallet row of cargo per container translates to increased profit for our customers. Domestic rail transport is a very competitive market, and every additional pallet of product adds to a customer’s bottom line.”

Thermo King said it was “the first transport refrigeration business to offer next-generation refrigerants in its North American products. Understanding that customers operate in highly regulated spaces, it is the business’s mission to understand and address current and future regulatory requirements. When used in Thermo King products, R-452A is the safest, most environmentally responsible, and technically and commercially viable replacement for current refrigerants in applications ranging from transport refrigeration to mobile air-conditioning.”

Thermo King is a brand of Ingersoll Rand.

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