How Kyabram Cold Storage is building its presence within the cold chain

Trailer innovations are strengthening cold chain supply

Schmitz Cargobull prides itself on providing trailers that are designed for the food and beverage industry with its smart trailers winning over stakeholders. Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

Schmitz Cargobull offers the food and beverage industry a range of smart trailers designed to streamline, simplify, and reduce the costs of transporting food products around the country and the company’s work with the QMC Logistics is a prime example of this.

The logistics company specialises in the national transport of perishable food items, with depots across multiple cities in Australia. One such company that utilises its trailers is QMC Logistics.

QMC Logistics general manager, Angus McKenzie, said the company first contacted Schmitz Cargobull for new temperature-controlled trailers for its transport of meats to the consumer market.

“We rent our trailers and then our truck drivers use their own trucks. It was the company that we rent trailers from that first made us aware of Schmitz Cargobull,” said McKenzie.

“In 2020, we purchased two of their trailers and after running them for about six to 12 months we were really impressed and concurred with the word of mouth about how good Schmitz thermal trailers were.”

One of the selling points of the trailers for QMC Logistics was the savings the company made through fuel efficiency.

“The fuel savings were a big positive. After those first six to 12 months we worked out we had made a 17 per cent saving on our fuel consumption, which compared to our other trailers was a great number,” said McKenzie.

“These days there isn’t a lot of margin for error in transport so if we can save on fuel throughout the year than it helps our bottom line.”

As much as the savings on fuel were an advantage – money that the company invests back into its operations – there were other factors that resulted in QMC Logistics purchasing more trailers for its fleet.

“This includes the design of the trailers, the thicker walls, the double loader bars that come down from the roof,” he said.

“In a lot of older trailers, each time a driver needed to use the double loader bars they got them from under the vehicle and put them in the van. Whereas Schmitz’s design has loader bars go to the roof and when they are needed it’s as simple as pulling two levers which means the driver can get them down with ease.”

Loader bars are placed horizontally between the sidewalls of a trailer, or vertically between the floor and ceiling, to prevent damage and keep stock in place.

“There was a whole lot of advantages to the trailers, which ultimately won us over and we now have seven,” said McKenzie.

McKenzie said the decision to purchase more Schmitz Cargobull trailers was a ‘no brainer’, especially after receiving great feedback from its drivers.

“Some put more emphasis on trailers looking good, but our focus has always been on reliability and good thermal, meaning on hot days it will hold its temperature,” he said.

“The ease for drivers is also another advantage. We got great feedback. They said they sit very well on the road, possibly the best trailer they have towed. Some trailers might give you a

QMC Logistics said that Schmitz Cargobull smart trailers are ideal for its cold chain needs. Cold chain logistics is as important as storage and Schmitz Cargobull has a range of smart trailers to fill that need.

drift on the road, but our drivers are full of praise.”

Part of the efficiency aspect of using these trailers, according to McKenzie, is the thermal wall’s ability to hold in the cold and limit the output from the motor.

“You don’t want a fridge motor to be revving high constantly on a hot day. Because these trailers have thermal in the walls, the fridge motor isn’t revving and trying to keep the temperature down because the thermal walls do that work for you and maintain it,” he said.

“They’ve made those walls thick so they cushion produce from the outside temperature when it’s really warm. Once that fridge motor gets that cold it doesn’t have to constantly work hard because of the design of the trailer. It holds the temperature.”

Advancements in the capability of both truck engines and trailer motors have also provided added value to the cold chain, in terms of logistics, which has proven invaluable to QMC Logistics.

“Now you have a fridge motor that also uses less fuel and a trailer that holds temperature really well so combined they are great additions to our company,” said McKenzie.

“We do long distances. We go across the country, except Perth and Darwin, but we do a lot in between so our guys are doing long trips and for them the peace of mind is critical.

“It’s also very important to us and our customers because we know that when we load freight into the trailer you won’t have any doubts about how the trailer will hold up under extreme conditions, such as Australian temperatures.”

Schmitz Cargobull provides a host of services to its clients, beyond providing trailers for those times where you need a new part, Schmitz Cargobull has a spare parts shop that identifies the best spare parts for the required job.

“We probably wouldn’t go back to any other trailer now. Also, their buying price in the market is competitive for the product we get,” said McKenzie. F