Refrigerated Containers Coming To A Store Near You
Tuesday, 13th October 2009
With supermarkets filling up with extra produce for Christmas and New Year celebrations their existing cold stores struggle to cope with this seasonal influx. Many choose to hire reefers, or refrigerated containers as they are also known, on short term leases to use as chillers or freezers.
These refrigerated containers are usually placed in the corner of the car park and can often be seen as you do your weekly shop. Over the years this Christmas business has seen companies spring up just to service this temporary demand, offering reefers with butchers doors, lights, panic alarms, ramps and even remote monitoring.
The goods being stored are increasingly imported and again in reefers. Standard reefers for the international marine business can differ in specification to a domestic reefer. Generally flat floors are not required and the norm is an aluminium “T” floor. Lights, butchers doors, ramps and panic alarms are also not generally fitted to marine equipment. The machinery can also be much different, low noise machinery on domestic reefers is a luxury not required on international routes. On the other side of the coin domestic reefer machinery will not usually be built to withstand the rigours of marine transport and the exposure to salt water.