Moves afoot to improve perishable transport sector

A project that will implement innovative technologies, improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint in the transport refrigeration sector in the country is currently under way. Commissioned by the German Ministry for the Environment, the programme by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbelt (GIZ) kicked off in October this year and runs through to March next year, said the programme manager Michael Schuster. “We already have organisations such as Woolworths and Imperial Logistics supporting the initiative that is ultimately aimed at improving the transport refrigeration sector in the country,” he said at the monthly Transport Forum in Cape Town recently. “The refrigerated vehicles all look very nice on the outside but on the inside they have many problems. So while an operator may think the vehicle is sealed and functioning optimally it may very well not be the case.” He said through a cooperation agreement with the department of trade and industry (dti) the programme would see standardised processes and procedures implemented across the country – while at the same time new and improved refrigeration systems would be introduced to the market. “Ultimately the aim is to improve the local environment so that it is on par with the standards in Europe,” said Schuster. He explained that one of the challenges in the country was that there was no facility to measure the overall thermal performance of refrigerated vehicle bodies. “Industry stakeholders have identified such a chamber as the single most important measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the refrigerated transport sector.” He said a roadmap for the establishment of such a test chamber had been drafted and was currently under discussion. Schuster said the establishment of a test hall and the parallel introduction of standards would result in requirements for refrigerated bodies in the country that currently were not being met. INSERT While an operator may think the vehicle is sealed and functioning optimally it may very well not be the case. – Michael Shuster