When it comes to buying your first refrigerated van, it’s not strictly white and black. This is because various van types and models are out there with other specifications agreed to several uses.
So how do you pick which refrigerated van is best for your firm? That’s where we’re here to support and run through some of the main problems and options. You might require to consider before investing your first investment and how we can meet your requirements here at RVR.
No matter what industry your company is a part of. Buying your first refrigerated van can help produce more expansion and sales in your reach and customer base.
The considerations we’re about to present can depend on your business and several various factors. These considerations are:
- What warmth does my van need to be?
- What will my mileage be, and how usually will I be operating and making drops?
- Does this mean I require a freezer or a chiller van?
- Should my van be preowned or new?
- What will my goods’ weights be, and how will this affect my wheelbase selection?
- Is it worth buying or renting?
Now you know what you might want to bear in mind when considering your alternatives, let’s get the answers to these questions.
What Temperature Do You Require in Your Van?
If not the most significant, this is one of the most critical questions you need to be requiring before buying your refrigerated van. Several vans can manage various temperatures, so you ought to select a suitable temperature for the contents depending on your cargo.
Some of the most popular manufacturers to use refrigerated vans for their goods have an average temperature that their trucks need to be. Here’s a failure of these industries and what temperature their stocks need at during transportation, in case they apply to you:
- Drinks – to keep the glass cool during transportation, they should ideally be within the range of 0°C to 8°C.
- Flowers – to secure the freshness and variety of flowers during transit, they should be between exactly 5°C to 7°C to maximise their short life span.
- Ice Cream and Frozen Goods – when carrying objects like these that must remain chilled during transportation, you should be looking to collect them in a vehicle capable of achieving -18°C to -25°C.
- Medicine and Pharmaceuticals – stocking these at a cool temperature bypasses spoiling and aids in maintaining the hygiene of the goods.
- Fish, Meat, Dairy and Poultry – to secure no cross-contamination, ideally, a multi-compartment vehicle is valued. If all else fails, a low heat, but not quite to freezer levels, is ideal for checking spoilage.
Chiller vs Freezer Vans
So, depending on your cargo, you might require various types of van. There are four main sections when it comes to refrigerated van types:
- Insulation-only van: these vans may be more suitable for businesses transporting objects that won’t decompose or perish during the transition but needs a small amount of extra insulation (often Styrofoam) as they don’t technically comprise any freezer or chiller sections. This means they aren’t the best substitute for food-based products.
- Chiller conversion van: fitted with the equivalent insulation as the above, these vehicles also often include a chiller or refrigerator that can obtain temperatures of between 0°C to 8°C, getting them very proper for chilled food, flowers and pharmaceuticals alike, capable of being kept the same temperature entirely the journey.
- Semi-freezer conversion van: these are excellent for transporting frozen goods at temperatures the regular chiller van can’t quite touch. They’re fitted with lightly thicker insulation, and the freezer units can obtain temperatures of -10°C up to -15°C. Some are also able to undergo defrost cycles which are absolute for some businesses upon delivery.
- Full-freezer conversion van: this type of van also serves from the potential defrost and thicker insulation. The main difference is that the whole freezer conversion has reinforced side and rear doors, and temperatures can stand as low as -25°C.
Distance and Drop Frequency
Not only will this influence the type of van you might acquire due to collecting the best possible mileage, fuel consumption and longevity, it will also change the installations within your van.
If you’re obtaining lots of drops and your doors will be open for a while at a time. It might be worth choosing a van type table of providing temperatures cooler than what you need. As you’ll be letting heat into the van every time the doors are left open.
If you would rather have a temperature you know, the choice is to install strip curtains in your van. These curtains can help control and manage the temperature of your van by forming a barrier between areas of cool and areas of humidity.
If you’re making many stops and will open your van door regularly, choose a van that either already has these installed or can do so in the future.
Load and Wheelbase Requirements
Wheelbase defines the distance between the rear and front axles of your van. It can hit the space available to collect and transport well. The wheelbase generally classified into the following:
- LWB (Long Wheel Base)
- MWB (Medium Wheel Base)
- SWB (Short Wheel Base)
The vehicle’s wheelbase moves the load and how much you can collect at any one point. Mainly if you’re applying pallets to transport your goods, so it’s necessary to decide what’s more suitable space-wise for your products.
Used vs New vs Rent?
We can say much about all three choices here. However, there is more of a guarantee of stable operation and durability with a new van. There’s nothing to tell that a used truck can’t do the same if it’s been looked after correctly! The difference here is that it’s more about what’s available in new and used.
A used truck can also give every possible thing which a new truck can do. Don’t hesitate to use a used van for your work and start your business with minimum investment.
Stay with us for more information regarding trucks, old trucks and many more.