Coldsavers for supermarket deliveries
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SEVEN 12m (40ft) refriger3ted vans built by Freight 3onallack Ltd, of Norwich, lave just been put into 3ervice by Associated Dairies _td at its meat and confec:ionery centre at Lofthouse, 'forkshire.
The Coldsaver trailers, which normally operate
within a controlled temperature range of 1.7 to 4.4° C (35 to 400 F), supply Associated Dairies' 49 supermarkets and serve several large bulk customers as well. The vans are equipped with Polarstream liquid-nitrogen
refrigeration equipment while actual delivery is aided by the addition of Ratcliff oneton electro-hydraulic tail-lifts. The unloading time is reckoned to take about 20 minutes for a full load of 56 roll pallets.
Each individual store telephones its order to the sales office at Lofthouse two clear days before the goods are needed.
Daytime runs can be made to stores which are within a radius of about 70 miles, but those which are farther away are served by night. These latter are specially equipped with unmanned night-store reception areas, for which the driver is provided with a key.
A typical night delivery run involves leaving the Lofthouse production centre at 4.30 pm, delivering to three stores and returning to the centre at 3 o'clock the following morning — a total distance of 260 miles. On its return the vehicle is unloaded of its empty pallets and is then washed down and refuelled, ready for loading up again and then setting off at 5am, with another driver, on a day run of about 225 miles.