OVERVIEW OF MARKET. Refrigerated transportation is a $1 billion a year industry in the United States and continues to grow.14 In 2000 there were approximately 225,000 refrigerated trailers in operation in the United States, 15,200 are registered in New York.15,16 Annual reefer sales in the United States are between 25,000 and 35,000.17 Forty-eight foot long reefer trailers are the current industry standard, although 53-foot trailers are becoming more common due to the fact that “a 53-foot trailer weighs only 750 pounds more than a 48-footer and only costs around $1,000 more”.18 Larger reefer trailers, although restricted in certain states, are desired by refrigerated trucking companies because they reduce operating costs by allowing the use of fewer trucks to haul the same amount of product. Reefer trailers tend to be concentrated in areas with large populations, since the majority of their loads are frozen, processed or fresh food. This creates noise and emission pollution which is an increasingly politically sensitive issue. Many communities have lodged complaints against idling trucks and reefer units at truck stops and rest areas. Regulations have been enacted across the country restricting the allowable times that truckers can idle the main diesel truck engines. Diesel engines used in TRUs and eTRUs are considered “nonroad” engines by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are subject to different emissions and idle- reduction regulations than the main engines. New stricter EPA emissions regulations for nonroad engines go into effect starting in 2008.7 Idle reduction regulations for nonroad engines, such as TRUs, may be the next step, as has started in California.6 Some TRU models, typically those on smaller straight trucks, are available with an optional electric plug-in feature, referred to as “standby”. Unlike a fully-electric eTRU, traditional mechanically driven reefer units operating in standby mode only have sufficient power to perform temperature-maintenance operations (as mentioned earlier, temperature maintenance requires much less power than pull-down mode). This ability to utilize electrical power instead of diesel can result in significant fuel and emissions savings. Unfortunately, fleet operators typically view TRUs with the standby feature as having too high of a purchase price and requiring more maintenance than traditional diesel TRUs. Standby equipped TRUs also weigh more and have lower cooling capacities compared to standard diesel...
